An Angel By My Side
by I-am-a-loner
Summary: Stefan is a guardian angel. The very first and most important rule is not to get attached to the person you are assigned to protect.
1. The Saviour

**Hey! This is my very first story ever. Please keep in mind that English is not my first language. I hope you enjoy this. :)**

My name is Stefan, which derives from Greek, meaning crown. In some way I truly am crowned, because I am an Angel of the Lord. You know, those halos you see in the pictures of angels, they remind some people a crown, although in real life, I don't have a halo attached to my head. To be more exact I am a guardian Angel. My job is to protect and take care of the people I've been assigned to. Each job lasts about 80 years, if an angel does their job well. So far I have managed to keep all my subjects alive until they reached old age. In heaven, those kinds of guardian angels are rare, because sometimes even an angel can't interfere with Destiny. A person is signed to an angel from birth, and we protect them from afar, it's not against rules to make yourself visible to them, but it is advisable to stay away from your subject personally, for the first and the most important rule is not to get attached. And this is the rule I broke and paid dearly for.

* * *

She sits in a small bar, alone, writing something in her journal. I notice how her brow is always in a slight frown like she's trying to keep herself from yelling out loud. The way she writes on the paper seems also a bit aggressive to me, the strong grip on the pen and the force she uses on the paper give the impression that she's probably angry. I know the cause of her frustration; it's her brother with whom she had a big fight earlier in the afternoon about his behaviour in school. He has given her a rough time since their parents died in a horrible car accident a year ago. I've been guarding her since she was born, making sure that she lives the time she has been given. She is probably the most difficult case I've ever had, because she always seems to get caught in some kind of a dangerous situation. The night her parents died in the car crash, she, too, was in the car as the vehicle drove off the bridge. I had almost dove into the water myself, that way I would have been forced to make myself visible to her, but to my luck there was a police vehicle driving nearby, so I made sure that she got rescued. There have been other times, where she almost got hit by a truck, or fallen off a rooftop, or eaten something poisonous. But each time I have managed to save her from death and every time I have known that Destiny is playing with me, trying to make her the first human, under my supervision, not to live until it's her time to go.

She stands up and puts her journal into her purse which she takes on her shoulder. She stomps out of the bar without even saying bye to the waitress. That strikes as odd to me, because she is the friendliest and the most kind-hearted person I've ever had to protect, so I guess the fight must have really gotten to her. I silently watch as she crosses the street without watching if any cars are coming. I groan to myself, thinking that Destiny is probably laughing to herself and trying to make my job hard again. So I start to pay more attention to the surroundings and what she is doing, to avoid any possible danger. She heads to a small unlit street, which I know to be a shorter way to her house, but also a more dangerous one, because that small alley is known as the drug-street, for drug-addicts tend to gather there at nights, and people usually try to avoid that place. I quicken my pace, because suddenly I have a gut-wrenching feeling in my stomach. I know it in my bones that something is going to happen. I look around the street hoping to find someone who might be able to help her, but there is no one around, only a few stray cats wandering around and hissing at me, although they can't see me, and a lone homeless guy passed out next to the Dumpster. I think to myself that this is probably the moment I have to make myself known to her if something happens. And just as I am about to finish the thought, a man, dressed in black comes out one of the houses and begins to follow her. I see how her back tenses as she feels someone walking behind her. She tries to stay calm, but her nerves get the best of her and she looks behind.

The man following her, smiles: "Where ya goin' babe? All alone in this dark street, ya know that this is a dangerous place, right? I could protect ya, dear," he slurs.

"No thanks," she smiles nervously and continues her way.

"And why is that, babe? I ain't good looking enough for ya? Is that what you think?" he asks as he still follows her. Suddenly the man makes a couple of longer and quicker strides and grabs her arm putting a hand across her mouth to stop her from screaming. He pushes her against a wall and that is I know that I have no choice but to make myself known.

I grab the man's dirty jacket and yank him away from her, pushing him far away from myself and her.

"What the hell do ya think you're doing?" the man shouts, overconfident. He puts a hand behind his back and pulls out a gun. I can see how grimy his hands are, with yellowish fingernails. He smiles again: "Not so tough guy anymore, are ya?"

I hear her sobbing behind me. I look at her and see her frightened face.

"It's all going to be okay, I promise." I don't know if she understands me but I don't have the time to make sure if she's okay as the man is approaching me with the gun pointed at my face.

"So how's it gonna be, tough guy?" I can feel the alcohol reeking from his mouth. "You're gonna stop me, huh? We'll see about that." And with that word he tries to pull the trigger, but the gun doesn't respond.

"The fuck is this?!" he screams and tries to pull the trigger again. No response. I walk to the man, grab his jacket and say: "If you want to live, I suggest you run fast and far away. I don't want to see your face here ever again, do you understand me?"

The man nods weakly as I see fear building in his eyes, angels can be quite intimidating when angry. I let go of his jacket and he runs. I don't bother looking where exactly, because I am sure that he will never come here again.

I turn to the frightened woman behind my back, and I see that she has slumped against the wall, her big brown eyes glued to me.

"Who are you?" she whispers weakly, "And how did you get here, there was no one else in the street."

"Come on, we have to get you out of here," I say urgently as I offer her my hand which she accepts. She gets on her feet and I can feel her shivering, although it's a fairly warm summer night.

"My name is Elena Gilbert," she whispers, "Thank you."

"I'm Stefan," I respond.

"Does Stefan have a last name too?"

"Salvatore."

"Oh. As in saviour." She answers quietly.


	2. You're the closest to heaven

_**Happy TVD Thursday folks! :) I was astounded by the amount feedback I got only for the first chapter. When I posted it, it was late at night and I went straight to bed thinking that nobody will probably read it and I'll just delete the story in the morning, but when I woke up... I literally screamed, never in my wildest dreams I saw this coming, because I've never written anything before, so you guys brought a big smile on my face, so thank you! You are really best and now I really feel the pressure rising lol**_

* * *

**Stefan**

We start walking away from the street and I can still feel her shaking next to me. I have this sudden urge to put my arm around her for comfort, but at the last second I restrain myself thinking that it would frighten her more. I can hear her deep breaths as she is trying to calm herself down.

"Where did you come from?" she asks suddenly, "I didn't see anyone in the street earlier, it's like you just appeared out of thin air." I feel her questioning gaze upon me.

I am really unsure what to say to her, I know that she is not an easy person to fool. But at the moment I opt for the safest explanation.

"I was right behind you, on my way home," I lie smoothly.

Her eyes narrow just a tiny bit, a sign that she doesn't believe me. I also notice that her shaking as stopped and her breathing has returned to normal.

"There's no way you were behind me, I would have heard you," she persists, her big brown eyes scrutinizing me.

I sigh; this girl is a real life lie detector. I just can't say that I'm an angel signed to protect her, she'd think that I was as crazy as the man who attacked her, or even worse, so I try again.

"I swear, Elena, I was about 100 feet behind you. I saw the man coming out of the house and then the next thing was that you were against the wall with his filthy hand over your mouth. So I ran and pulled him away from you."

I still see uncertainty in her eyes as she studies my face for what seems like an hour. I notice that we have stopped somewhere in the street.

"You should really go home now," I say as her eyes on my face become unbearable. She breaks out of her daze, nods her head and we start walking toward her house again.

* * *

**Elena**

Stefan Salvatore, the saviour. His name rings in my head over and over again and for some reason I can't stop staring at him. His face is like straight from a men's underwear catalogue. He probably _is_ a male model; someone that handsome should definitely be one. The thing that catches my sight the most is his lips, I wish he smiled; I bet that when he smiles then it's the most beautiful sight ever.

I slap myself mentally as he suggests moving on. I finally realize that while I was interrogating him, we had stopped on the sidewalk. I look around and see that my house isn't that far away anymore. I sigh to myself wishing that my house was a bit farther away. Don't get me wrong, I still find it suspicious that he was there in an instant; I could swear that there was _no one_ walking behind me until that horrible man came. I would've heard Stefan's footsteps, I'm not that oblivious to my surroundings as he thinks I am. But something about Stefan makes me feel safe, the feeling I get from him is warmth, like nothing bad can ever happen to me when I'm with him. I've never felt this safe in my life.

I nod my head, unable to say anything coherent; I'm still mesmerized by his face. So we start walking again and I try to keep my eyes straight ahead, because I'm afraid that when I look at him again, I won't be able to take my eyes off him again.

"Why were you in that street?" his voice startles me.

"Um, that's the shortest way to home," I respond. To be honest, I never use that street, it has a bad reputation and everyone tries to avoid it, especially at night. I guess that today I learned that the hard way.

"Don't you know how dangerous that street can be?" I feel his eyes on me, but I can't look at him. I will myself not to look at him, instead I concentrate on my house ahead.

"Of course I know that." – My voice cracks and I take a deep breath.

"So why did you go there then?"

"I don't know," I whisper trying to hide my shame about being so stupid. I knew how risky it was to go into that street. I have heard the stories about people living there, how their lifestyle of drugs and alcohol have completely destroyed their life and how people passing through the street have been victims of robbery, rape and murder.

I feel Stefan's eyes searching mine, but I keep my glued to the pavement, too afraid to face the judgement in his gaze. I'm sure he is judging me, I have no doubt about that, why wouldn't he?

"I just really wanted to get home," I confess, "I had a horrible day and all I could think of was my bed, so I decided that I'll use the shortest way. I have never ever used that street before, no sane person hardly ever does. But today, I thought to myself they are only stories people tell their children so they wouldn't go there, and I really didn't believe that I would be the person in those tales, the one who gets attacked. Foolish and naive, I know. And with my luck, I should have known that something bad would happen. I have a knack of getting into trouble. One time, I almost fell off a rooftop, you know. And there was this occasion where I almost swallowed some poisonous berries, but every time there has been someone there to save me." I babble mindlessly.

I hear Stefan chuckle under his breath and that makes me come to my senses. I dare to look at him and I see some kind of an amusement in his eyes, like he is enjoying some kind of an inside joke.

"What's so funny?" I accuse him. I don't like when people laugh at me, it makes me feel so utterly insecure, that there is something wrong with me.

"Nothing, I just memorized something funny," he answers with a light smile. And I was right, his smile is god-sent, and again I find myself staring at him.

Stefan looks at me straight in the eyes and I can't tear my gaze off of his. His eyes are the shade moss, mesmerizing and alluring. I've never seen eyes like that before, so beautiful and serene. And old. His eyes look like they're a thousand years old, ready to tell stories about men conquering whole countries, how seamen came home from long trips to their wives, who were willing to wait for years, how women with hair so high like the Eiffel Tower, attended balls with delicate music playing, and dancing old dances, now forgotten.

"Um," he starts, uncertain. "Is this your house?"

We've stopped in front of a house with a big porch and a hedge in front of it. I look around and recognize my home.

"Yes," I breathe, finally free of his hypnotizing eyes. "Would you like to come in, I could offer you coffee or something." And just as I say the last word I want to kick myself for being so obvious.

He smiles again, and I feel a blush creeping up on my cheeks – "Thank you, but I really should get going, I just wanted to make sure you get home safely."

"You never said where you lived." I say, desperately trying to prolong our conversation. "I've never seen you before here, and you said earlier that you were going home too."

He looks away - "Well, yeah, I'm actually not living here right now, just visiting some friends."

"Oh, what's their names, maybe I know them," I ask in hopes to know more of this mystery man.

"I'm sure you don't know them," he says a little too fast.

"It's a small town, everyone knows at least someone who knows someone," I respond through a nervous laugh. Nervous because he makes me feel like that. I'm pretty sure that he is lying. His eyes, so serene, give away every emotion, "Besides, if you..."

"It's not important, Elena," he cuts me off with slight irritation in his voice. I stare at him, dumbfounded. It's strange how he makes my emotions go from one edge to another. Right now I feel suspicion creeping up on me again.

"Look, just be grateful that you're alive. You survived today. Who knows what might have happened if I hadn't been in that street." Again, I catch the slight motion in his eyes which tells me that he's being dishonest. "You're home. Safe. That is most important. Please try to stay away from trouble."

And with those words he begins to walk away from me. I look at him for a minute and then decide to go in the house. The warmth he brought with himself has left and I feel cold. I notice how my hands are starting to shake again and how fear is starting to raise its head again. For some incomprehensible reason I feel completely alone.

* * *

**Stefan**

I feel horrible about my behaviour, but I had no choice. Elena is smart, she can see right through me and my lies. I watch her go into the house, her eyes fixed to the ground and her tiny hands in fists. I know that I hurt her, but there was nothing else I could have said to her to keep her from asking more questions. It seemed that for every answer I had, she had ten more questions.

I silently follow Elena in the house and I see how her hands are starting to shake again. She makes her way down to the kitchen and by the time she tries to take a mug from the kitchen cabinet, they tremble so violently that she's unable to grasp it. I see tears forming in her eyes and I want nothing else just to hold her, so she wouldn't hurt so much. I wish that I could tell her that she won't be sad forever, but I can't. And just then, right before my eyes, I see the strong woman I've come to known over the years, fall into pieces as she sinks down to the floor, crying.

* * *

_**I hope that I haven't made Stefan some kind of a creepy stalker guy, that'd be awful. And of course, all ideas and suggestions are welcome, because inspiration can come from all kinds of places. :)**_

_**Oh and thank you, ICURAQT2, for pointing out that I had rated this M, which really wasn't my intention. :)**_


	3. Don't try to fix me I'm not broken

**I'm super grateful for your continued support and I'm still amazed that there are so many people interested in this story :)**

* * *

**Elena**

_Dear Diary, _

_It's been three weeks since I completely broke down, three weeks since I saw him. I can't put it into words what happened that night, it just felt like the whole world came crashing down on me, like I was in the middle of the ocean without a life raft, without no one to pull me out. Everything has just been going downhill since my parents' death and my miraculous escape from the watery grave. I've never felt so alone in my life, Jeremy won't speak to me, Caroline is in Europe discovering the world, Matt already has a family of his own and Bonnie isn't around much either. There's no one. My life has been stuck in the same place for a very long time, and I can't seem to find an escape. The first time I felt something similar to hope is when I met him, when he came and saved me. It's strange how one brief encounter with a person can leave you so shaken, so impossibly doubtful about yourself. I don't know how to describe the thoughts in my head or the feelings I feel right now. All I know is that when _he_ was near me, I knew exactly what I was feeling, there were no hesitations. A rational part of my mind says that I should just forget about him, be thankful that he saved me and that's that. But I can't. His impossibly green eyes are still etched fresh into my brain, I can't shake them, no matter how hard I try. I've been asking around the town if anyone knows a man named Stefan Salvatore, but so far I haven't had any luck. Although, there was this elderly woman who claimed that she once knew a young man with the same name and that he had been a friend with her husband while he was sick with cancer. Her smile when he talked about him was so genuine it made me smile too. However, it couldn't have been him, because the Stefan she knew would be over 60 by now. She also mentioned that after her husband died, she never saw him again. I just wish I could see him only one more time, but it's probably too much to ask for. I just have to put on a brave face and fight the world myself._

I close my diary, too tired to write any more. I watch the clock; it's almost 8am now, in half an hour I have to be at work. For the past year, I've been working at the local hospital as a nurse. It's not my dream job, but I still like it, I especially like to work in the children's department, because they are always the happiest even though some of them are very ill. Small children don't know how to be worried about everyday things, they have yet to know the pain that the world offers, they are the most carefree people and that is why I love them. The only thing I wish I didn't have to deal with is the atmosphere of death surrounding me in the hospital and every time I lose a patient it's like someone punches me in the face.

As I reach the hospital I see all these familiar faces, familiar to me, because, for them, I am nothing. Most of them don't even acknowledge my presence; they just see me as another nurse, a face among tens of others that work here. I'm fine with it, any kind of excess attention only makes me nervous, so I'm really not bothered by the lack of recognition.

I change into my work clothes and start climbing the stairs to the fifth floor, I could use the lift, but I prefer the stairs, because in lifts I would have to endure the uncomfortable silence and stares from people I don't even know.

I am almost to the fifth floor, but as I am about to take the final step my foot gets stuck behind the last step and I almost fall face first to the ground, but at the last second I miraculously manage to get a grip on the handrail and save myself from what would have been some very painful bruises. I laugh slightly under my breath and look back to make sure there weren't anyone behind me. I see no one, but suddenly I feel this familiar warmth washing over me.

* * *

**Stefan**

It's like she's looking straight into my eyes. I know that she can't see me, but the way she's scrutinizing the whole room, it's like she's looking for someone, and for a brief second I'm sure that she can see me. Her big doe-eyes seem to be locked on to my face and I am starting to think that she really can see me, but she finally turns back and heads to her workplace. I decide that today is probably a day I should stick around, because I have a feeling that something may happen. I don't always have to be around her, whenever she is in trouble I can sense it no matter where I am and it only takes a few seconds for me to reach her. But over the years I've come to the understanding that I should keep a stricter eye on Elena, because of her tendencies to always be where there is misfortune and because I believe that Destiny has chosen Elena to be her new plaything. Although, it still surprises me, because this is the first time I've seen her trying so hard to cause harm to one of my charges.

Destiny is the only one that can cut a person's predetermined life short. She especially loves to play with guardian angels and their subjects, over the past five hundred years it has become a hobby of hers. I've never before have had trouble with her, she has always preferred to watch other angels squirm under her doings, trying to do everything possible to keep their humans safe. Destiny is the one who can cause different accidents, and if the angel is not with their subject, it can only be a mere second that determines if the person lives or dies. However, she can't cause anyone to be terminally ill, that's not in her hands, fortunately. If a person is meant to die because of an illness, then it's already fixed by the person's birth. Over the years, I've had my fair share of close calls with Destiny's games, but I've always managed to keep everyone out of harm's way and she has usually left me alone after the first attempt. But this time, it's different, I can feel it.

Elena is smiling when she enters the room full of playing children, her mouth is smiling but there's a trace of sadness in her eyes. All these children are severely ill, some have only few months to live, but still they are the most sincerely happy people I've ever seen, because they still have hope. Hope that someday they won't have to wake up in a hospital, that they don't have to endure all these procedures from day to day. Hope, it's what drives them to be happy, to welcome every new day with a fresh smile and new expectations.

Elena leads one of the girls to the preparation room to get her ready for the chemotherapy. Elena takes the girl's hand and gives her a reassuring smile, knowing that the small child is probably scared. I watch the girl relax visibly when Elena nods her head and whispers something in her ear. She's always been good with making other people feel better, even though I know that Elena herself hasn't been happy for a very long time.

I decide to stay where I am already – in front of the door of the play room. I know that Elena is coming back to take care of the other children very soon, so I think it's not necessary to watch her every move. The play room has a large arch instead of a door, and the waiting room is situated right in front of it, so parents and relatives could sit in the waiting room and still keep an eye on their children, if they want. I watch for a few minutes how a frail little boy is playing with a toy car on the carpet, his movements are slow and I can sense that he hasn't got much time left. It pains me that I can't do anything to make the boy healthy again, because guardian angels can't heal people from terminal illnesses, we can only make the pain more bearable and heal minor injuries.

Suddenly the boy's head snaps up from his toy and he looks straight into my eyes and smiles. It startles me at first but then I realize the child must be even more ill than I initially thought. You see, people who are on the brink of death can see the angels, that is where all the stories of someone waiting them on the other side come from, although many think them to be the ravings of a dying man.

The boy has his eyes glued on my face and he watches me intently, he smiles again slightly and I smile back. Then he waves at me and just at that moment Elena returns, going straight to the child. She looks suspiciously at the place where I currently am and then back at the boy.

"Who were you waving to, Zach?" she asks the boy.

"The nice man right there," he points his finger at me. "He has pretty green eyes."

The look on Elena's face is a mix of shock and worry. She takes the boy in her arms and looks at my direction. The little boy in her arms is still watching me with concentration and I can't help to wonder what she might think.

"Zach, dear, there is no one over there," she looks straight into the boy's eyes but he won't avert his gaze from me.

"Yes there is, he is right there," he points his finger at me again and waves.

Elena looks again at where I'm standing and now I can see how concerned she is for the boy.

"Come on, Zach, let's get you into your room, you need your rest, you can play again tomorrow."

"Will the nice man be here tomorrow, too? I like him."

"I don't know, sweetie, but if he is here tomorrow too, will you tell me?"

Zach nods his head and together they start to head for his room and Elena shoots one more troubled glance at my way.

When she returns, she goes straight to Dr. Fell, the head paediatrician of the hospital.

"I think that Zachariah has got even worse, now his starting to hallucinate," she says nervously while throwing glances at the spot where I was standing earlier.

"That's odd, that shouldn't happen with his illness," Dr. Fell answers

"Maybe it's the side-effect of some medication."

"That's possible, but I'd better check him, what did you say he was hallucinating about?"

"He said that there was a man with pretty green eyes. At first I thought that he meant someone from the waiting room, but he kept looking at a completely empty spot while waving at it."

"Huh, is that so. Well, I'll go check on him now, I believe you have your job cut out for right now?"

"Um, yes, I have other children to prepare for their procedures." Elena replies but I can see how much she wants to go with Dr. Fell to make sure that the boy is well.

"Very well then, thank you Elena," she says and starts walking toward the boy's room.

I see Elena taking a deep breath to calm herself down. Her hands are balled into fists by her sides, a habit she has when she's mad about something. She takes another deep breath and then continues her job.

The rest of the day flies by as I watch her taking care of the children, eating her lunch in the cafeteria alone and then filling out some paperwork.

It's almost eight in the evening as she is preparing to go home when her pager goes off, she throws a brief look at it and runs toward the room where Zach is.

When I reach the room, all I can see Dr. Fell, Elena and other nurses frantically moving around the bed. Dr. Fell shouts for the defibrillator and I see Elena giving a heart massage to the boy while the defibrillator is being brought.

But it's already too late. I can see the little boy's spirit standing beside the bed, watching how the doctor and nurses are trying to bring him back. There's no fear in his eyes, no tears, no pain. He glances up to me, smiles, waves and then he's gone.

"Clear!" Dr. Fell shouts and gives the first shock, but to no avail. She tries the second time and then the third time, still no response. After the fourth time, she puts the machine away and looks at the clock.

"Time of death – 8:12."

I watch how one of the nurses draws a white sheet over Zach's body and I notice Elena standing beside the bed, frozen, staring at the boy. I wish I could go to her, tell her that everything is okay, that Zach is in a better place now, a place where no pain or sorrow exist. But I can't, no matter how much I want to.

Instead it's Dr. Fell who goes to her; she puts a hand on her shoulder and that gesture breaks Elena out of her daze, I can see how her eyes are starting to well up, and how she's hardly keeping herself together.

"I have to go," her voice breaks and she stomps away. She gathers her stuff in a hurry, not bothering to take off her work clothes; she runs out to the parking lot, goes to her car and starts the engine. Elena backs out of her parking spot a little bit too fast and that makes me worried. And my worries intensify when she speeds out of the parking lot like she's in a racing car.

I lose sight of Elena's car quite fast, but because I can feel her presence no matter how far she is, I'm capable of tracking her car down pretty quickly.

I end up being on a long winding road, surrounded by a thick forest, I recognize it being the way to the cemetery and I wonder why Elena would be heading that way when I remember that her parents are buried there. I can hear her car speeding its way to me and after a few seconds I see the headlights, and just as it's about to drive past me, a deer runs to the road. Elena turns the steering wheel abruptly to the left to avoid the animal and the car hits a tree with a deafening bang. The world seems to stop for a second as I can't comprehend what happened, for a fraction of a second _I _am the one paralyzed. I regain my senses and run to the car. The car is in ruins, its front totally smashed. I pull the car door open and make sure that Elena is still alive, she's unconscious, the only visible injury I can see is the big gash on her forehead, bleeding violently, but I can't be sure that she doesn't have any internal injuries.

I have to get her out of the car as soon as possible and as I start to unbuckle her, she opens her eyes. Her eyes meet mine and they're full of confusion.

"Stefan?" she asks and then her heart stops beating.

* * *

**Feel free to leave your suggestions, questions, and let me know if you have spotted any mistakes. **


	4. Dreams that can move the mountains

**Hi! :) I'm terribly sorry that it took me so long to update this. My heart broke after 4x06, and it was hard to find the motivation to write... Anyhow, here it is...fair warning - Elena is kinda erratic in this chapter.**

* * *

**Elena**

There is this immense darkness that tries to pull me into itself. I resist with all my force, but every attempt is so ridiculously weak that I want to laugh at myself. For an instance I feel the darkness giving up, being replaced by this familiar warmness that I can't place. I gather the last ounce of strength I have to pull myself away from the looming shadows that tempt me, it would be so much easier to give in. I feel the fingers of the shadows grasping me, and I try to run away from them, and for a moment I succeed. I suddenly see a bright light and these beautiful green eyes looking worriedly at me. At first I can't place them, but then I remember.

"Stefan?" I call out weakly, but then I feel something cold and dark pulling me away from his mesmerising eyes. I try to resist, but I'm too weak and I let the darkness surround me.

* * *

When I open my eyes I find myself in an unfamiliar place. It's full of light and warmth, something I've been craving for a long time. There's a thick forest around me with only one single winding road leading away, but all I can see is darkness at the end of the road.

I realize that I am in a meadow, it is full of beautiful flowers - purple, yellow, blue - my favourite colours. I can't see any other paths leading away from here though, the dark one is the only one. The sky is clear and I can hear birds chirping from the tops of the trees, they sing songs I've never heard before and it's angelic. I go closer to the trail and as I go closer and closer to it, I can hear these alluring sounds, tempting me to go down that road and never return. I'm about to make the first step down the road when a man's voice rings behind me.

"Elena, don't."

The voice breaks off the haze that the sounds coming from far away induced. I turn my back to it and see a man standing behind me. He is bathed in sunlight, making it impossible for me to recognize him, although I know I've heard that voice somewhere before. I put my hand over my forehead to cover my eyes from the sunlight.

"Who are you? Your voice is so familiar. And do you know where I am?"

"You were in an accident, Elena."

That news serves as a punch to my stomach as a picture of the animal that jumped in front of my car comes back to my mind, after that I can only remember these green eyes and then it's all black.

"What are you saying? Am I dead?" I cry out, feeling hopeless. "What is this place, I can't be dead!" I feel tears streaming down my face as I fall onto my knees.

The man starts to move towards me and when I finally see his face it's like I've been struck by lightning.

"Stefan?" I breathe, my mouth gaping open.

"This is impossible, where are we? Why are you here?"

He kneels down beside me and looks straight into my eyes.

"You're not dead Elena. Not yet."

"Not yet, what's that supposed to mean?" my voice is shaky, I still can't believe all that is happening right now. I watch how his eyes sparkle when the sun hits them and then it all comes back.

"You were there, you pulled me from the car," my mind starts to work frantically.

There's a trace of sadness in his face as he looks straight into my eyes.

"Elena, I am so sorry."

I start to panic and my breathing is getting more ragged. "What are you sorry for? Please, give me some answers before I go crazy!"

I watch how his face plays out a mixture of emotions. "As I said earlier, you were in an accident," he looks at my reaction, probably afraid that I'll go into a mental breakdown but when he sees that I'm willing to listen, he continues.

"Yes, I pulled you out of the car, but your heart stopped the second I got you out of the vehicle."

"I am dead, then," I feel silent tears streaming down my cheeks as I take a deep breath to calm myself.

Stefan's face is stern – "I said before that you're not dead, Elena. Please just listen."

I nod, afraid that if I open my mouth, I'll start screaming and his face softens in an instant.

"I was able to revive you, although you didn't come back to consciousness and your pulse was very weak. I hurried to the hospital and they took you immediately to the operation room. The doctors said that you had a massive internal bleeding at it was a miracle that when you got to the hospital you were still alive and it was an even bigger miracle that they were able to stop it."

My mouth drops open as I hear the words coming out of his mouth, not fully comprehending what he is saying.

"But..." he starts.

"But what, Stefan? What happened then? Why am I here then if they were able to save me?" I almost lose it but he looks at me straight in the eye and I start to calm down again.

"You fell into a coma."

I can hear the blood pumping through my veins, I can hear the birds, the wind silently blowing, I can hear everything but his words. It all is too much to handle right now. I avert my gaze from him, afraid I'll break completely down.

"Elena, do you understand me?"

"What is there to understand?" I laugh nervously. "I'm in a coma, I get it, probably be dead in some time."

I stand up and start pacing around the meadow, behind me I hear Stefan standing up and following me.

"What is this place?" I yell and my voice echoes back, ominously. Suddenly I feel Stefan's hand on my shoulder and I turn to face him.

"Tell me, please I need to know, if I'm not dead, then why am I here?"

Stefan hesitates and drops his gaze to the ground.

"I don't know how to explain this to you, but I'll give it my best, alright? But you have to promise to listen," he pleads.

I nod and decide to sit down again.

* * *

**Stefan**

Elena is confused and scared, and for a good reason. The place she's in may seem like a safe enough spot for the time being, but the longer she stays here, the chances of her getting away from here become smaller and smaller.

"You've been in a coma for a month now," I start, carefully examining her face for any kind of alarms. Her face stays calm but I see her hands balling into fists, a habit she has when she's stressed.

"I've been trying to get in contact with you for a while now, but you've been unresponsive, until today. This place, it's hard to explain. This place is moulded by you. By your dreams and what you imagine peace will be like. You are the one who created this, you do feel peaceful and good here, don't you?"

Elena's voice is a bare whisper – "Yes."

"Every person has this kind of place," I continue, "But it's always different. It could be anything from in the middle of the ocean to the top of a skyscraper. This place is where people end up right before they die."

I watch intently Elena's reaction, for a second she doesn't seem to understand my words, but then her face adapts more of a defeated expression.

"I am going to die, aren't I?" Fresh tears start falling from her eyes and she tries to wipe them away.

"Not if I can help it. You see that road over there?" I point to the dark path leading away from here.

"Yes."

"You can't go there, no matter how tempting that road is. Under no circumstances, understand? I know that it is hard to resist, but if you listen to me, I might be able to get you out of here."

She looks at the path for a long time, probably thinking that what I am saying is crazy. Then her eyes find mine again.

"If I go there, I won't come back?"

"Yes."

"What makes you so sure that you can bring me back?"

I am unsure what to tell her, if I tell her the whole truth, she'll probably think I'm a lunatic. Although, this whole situation is crazy, still I don't know if telling her everything will be the safest thing.

"Let's just say that I'm here to help you."

"Oh, that's very helpful," she suddenly snaps and stands on her feet. "You were there that time in the street too, to help me. That's very convenient, isn't it? Tell me, Stefan, how the hell can _you _be here when this is place is apparently only my imagination."

I'm confused by her sudden change of mood and I can feel her anger rising, she has forgotten all that I said to her earlier and now she's concentrating on pointing all her frustration on me.

"Elena, it doesn't matter who I am,"

"How does it not matter?" she practically yells. "Don't play with me, Stefan, you suddenly appear here, tell me not to go down that road, then speak about this place being made by me and that I will probably die soon. What am I to make of all of this? Just take your word and trust you? I can't do that."

Angry tears are falling violently from her eyes as she screams at me. And every word that comes from her mouth is like a sharp knife is pulled across my body, cutting deeper and deeper.

"Elena, I..." – I take a step closer to her, but she takes a step away from me.

"Don't come any closer," she warns.

"Listen to me please," I raise my voice.

"Why should I?" she retorts.

"Because I am here to protect you, how can you not understand that? I only want to help you. Tell me, Elena, how many times have you been close to some kind of an accident, which could've end badly? Many times, huh?" I feel myself getting more and more exasperated. I know I shouldn't tell her this, but I can't stop the words coming from my mouth.

She falters, but then regains her composure. "I told you that the night you saved me."

"Oh, but what about the day of your car accident that brought you here? That day you tripped on the stairs and almost fell down."

Elena's mouth starts to form an objection, but then it hits her.

"What? How can you know about that?"

"I was there," I say, my voice back to its normal volume. "I stopped you from getting hurt."

"But..but that's not possible, you weren't there." Her voice is full of confusion.

"You see, I was there." I decide that it's better to tell her everything. "I've been there every time something bad has happened to you. That time you almost fell off a roof, when your parents' car drove off the bridge."

Elena covers her mouth with her hand and turns her back to me. "This is not happening," I hear her mutter.

"Elena, I need you to listen carefully, because what I am about to tell you is going to sound crazy."

She doesn't say anything and keeps her back to me.

"You know these stories about people saying that they had a guardian angel watching over them after an accident that should have killed them?" I say, unsure how to approach this.

She doesn't respond.

"Well, they were right. You see, I am one of them, an angel."

There's grave silence, it seems like time has stopped. Only thing I can hear is her breathing. She still doesn't still respond.

"You are the one I am assigned to protect. That is why you are still alive against all odds." My own voice is only a whisper.

After what seemed to be hours she finally turns to look at me. Her face is completely blank, devoid of any emotion. She doesn't say anything, only walks past me, toward the dark road.

"Elena..." I try to take her hand, but she yanks it away.

She doesn't believe me. She thinks that this is a bad dream and the only way out of it is going down that path. I watch her going determinedly in the direction of her death.

I have to do something, now, or she'll be gone forever.

"Elena, don't do this!" I yell, but she is unresponsive. She's almost at the beginning of the road and I have no choice but to appear right before her. She takes a sharp step back as she sees me and I can see that she's scared.

"Don't be afraid," I warn. But she doesn't listen and starts to back away from me.

"Just listen, Elena! I'm begging you!" I shout and she stops suddenly and looks straight into my eyes.

"What am I supposed to say? This is all just a nightmare, right? Because everything you've said is like straight from a movie!"

Elena starts to walk away from me, again. I can hear her muttering to herself, going over and over again – "This is just a dream, I'm not going crazy. I'll wake up soon in my bed, I'm not going crazy."

I'm not sure how to continue, she's not willing to hear or believe anything I say anymore. She is still pacing round the meadow, unable to go down the road, because I am standing right in front of it, blocking her way. I can see her throwing wary glances at my way, probably afraid I'll do something to her. I can't blame her for behaving like this, if someone told you that they were an angel, would you believe it? Probably not, and like Elena you'd think that person is escaped from a mental institute. Right now, though, I have to get through to Elena, for her own sake, because I can't let her stay here much longer anymore, her time is running out quickly and if I don't do something right now, I'll lose her.

Elena stops in the middle of her step as I appear right in front of her, again. Her breath hitches and her big brown eyes immediately start to look for a way out.

I put my hands on her shoulders – "Elena, you have to listen to me, you have no other choice." I look into her eyes. "I know how insane everything is for you right now, but I can assure that this is not a dream, I won't hurt you and if you don't pull yourself together right away, you won't get to live any longer. _This_ is the harsh truth, everything I've told you is the truth, do you understand me?"

Elena looks like a bucket of ice cold water has been thrown over her and her face adapts a sober expression as she nods carefully.

"You don't have to believe me, but you wanted to know, and everything I said about myself is the truth. And honestly, I don't believe that you'll remember all of this when we get you back, just right now I need you to trust me and do as I tell you." I go over this again, just to make sure that she's willing to cooperate.

"I won't remember any of this?" she asks quietly.

"No, probably not." Elena's body relaxes immediately, like I've told her the best news ever, and somehow that thought of her not remembering a thing I've said to her today, hurts me.

"Okay then," she's still being wary of me, "How do I get out of here?"

"There has to be another road here, that is the way out."

"I don't see any other roads besides that one over there," she points her finger to the shadowy path.

"That's the problem," I tell her, "the other road appears when you really want to get out of here. Usually people don't, because this is what they deem to be paradise and finally they'll go down that road which won't allow them to return."

"So you're saying that if I want this bad enough, I'll be able to get out?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying."

"I do want to get out of here, but I don't see anything appearing," she looks around the meadow.

"It's hard I know," I glance around the meadow too and then back at Elena when I realize that my hands are still on her shoulders. I step away from her immediately and she looks at me, confused.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have invaded your space like that, especially when you're probably still afraid of me." I apologize.

Her face softens, all of her previous anger toward me has disappeared – "Um, that's okay, I didn't even notice that." She laughs nervously. "I'm not afraid of you, well not anymore, there's something very safe about you, it's just that everything you've told me so far is very hard to believe."

I nod, understanding.

"So, how do I make the road appear, then?" Elena changes the subject.

"It is your own mind that keeps you here right now." I look at her pointedly, "What are you afraid of?"

Her eyes go big as she looks at me, incredulous, but she quickly regains her composure.

"What do you mean? Like am I afraid of spiders or something like that?" she jokes.

"You are afraid of something in the real world, that is what's keeping you here. I believe that you do want to get out of here, but first you need to overcome that obstacle."

She shuffles her feet. "No, I'm not scared of the real world, that's silly."

"But yet, you try to avoid this subject. You can tell me, Elena. I promise you, it will help." I look into her deep brown eyes, she looks back her look not faltering and then takes a deep breath.

"I have no one," she whispers. "I'm alone all the time. Everyone has left me – my parents, I hardly see my friends and my brother avoids me like I'm the plague. I feel empty, every single day," tears are starting to fill her eyes, "but this place, I don't feel alone or sad. No pain exists here, no tears, no sorrow. And I do want to go back, but not for myself, for others. I don't want my brother to be without a family, the children in the hospital need me and my friends, with whom I so rarely meet, I don't want them to go through a loss. That's it, I'd go back for other people, but not for myself. I haven't lived for a very long time." She's shaking like a leaf and tears are falling from her eyes as she finally verbalizes what's she's been afraid to admit.

It's unbearable to watch her go through all that pain and without thinking I take a step forward and wrap her in a hug. She holds on to me tightly, and presses her cheek on my shoulder and her whole body shakes from her sobbing.

"You won't be sad forever, Elena, I promise." I say to her. "Life will get better, you just have to hang on." She starts to calm down, and her hold on me loosens, although her breathing is still ragged. She takes a small step back and I suddenly find myself wishing that I could hold her a bit longer. Elena wipes her tears from her cheeks and gives me small smile – "Well, aren't I bipolar, one minute I'm screaming at you, the next I'm crying like there's no tomorrow. Oh wait, there might not be a tomorrow for me," she tries to joke again.

I smile back at her – "Do you feel better now?"

"Yes, I do, actually. But I still don't see any other roads leading away from here," her eyes wander over the meadow.

"You only admitted your fear to yourself, now you have to overcome it."

"How?"

"Think of it, Elena, life is not only about doing what is best for other people. It's about living for yourself too. Imagine everything you'll miss, the chances to see the world, to find true love, have a family, to do something crazy," I say, grabbing her shoulders once again. "Imagine all the things that you won't get to experience, you're so young, Elena, I understand why you think that the other way would be so much easier, but you have so many years ahead of you, don't give up." Her eyes are locked with mine as she absorbs every word I say to her.

"I've always wanted to see the pyramids...," she trails off.

"See, already you have one thing to live for, don't throw your life away, I beg you. Your brother can't ignore you forever and you'll find many more friends and one day you'll meet someone, who will make your life worth living even more than it already is. Dreams can move the mountains and life is so much more than what your eyes have seen."

She's listens to my every word that comes from my mouth and her eyes start to sparkle more and more, it's like someone dead being coming back to life again. She nods her head, her eyes still glued to mine, there's a sudden change of atmosphere in the meadow, the air getting heavier by the second.

"Elena," I say urgently, "we don't have time left, this, right now is your only chance," I look at her intently. Her eyes finally leave mine and glance around the meadow, finally locking on a spot between the trees.

"I see it," she breathes.

"Good, go to it, now!" I push her lightly as a sharp gust of wind cuts through the small field.

"What about you?"

"I'll be fine, Elena, just go now!" She looks at me one last time, indecisive, I'm almost losing my patience, but she takes me by surprise when she hugs me and whispers in my ear: "Angel, or not, thank you." She runs past me straight into the woods and then she disappears. The meadow immediately starts to crumble and I realize it's time to go.

* * *

I'm back at Elena's hospital room, where she's been hooked to different machines for the past month. Jeremy is, as usual, by her side, drawing something in his sketchbook. He has been staying with her ever since the accident, hardly leaving her side. The first weeks were the toughest for him and there were many times I overheard him talking to her, saying how sorry he was for not speaking to her and not being there for her. The doctors didn't give her much hope, saying that her brain activity was at the minimum and it would probably be the best to unplug the machines, but fortunately, Jeremy has his sister's stubborn nature and he wouldn't let them do that.

Every day I had been trying to get a hold of her, but she has been unresponsive and when I did get a glimpse of her, she pushed me away. Today was the day I finally succeeded in contacting her, thankfully, because if I hadn't she'd be probably dead by now.

A sharp beep comes from the machine next to her, indicating that her heart rate has picked up. Jeremy drops his sketchbook and hurries by Elena's side, grabbing her arm.

"Elena, can you hear me?" there's a slight hint of desperation in his voice. "Someone, help!" he yells out. "Elena, please, please, can you hear me?" he looks at her face, which doesn't change but suddenly his eyes fly to her hand which he his holding and I notice that she's moving one of her fingers.

Unexpectedly, Elena takes a very deep breath and her eyes open. My heart almost stops when the first word comes out of her mouth: "Stefan."

* * *

**I don't know when I'm able to update this again, because school is taking a big chunk of my time right now, but I promise that I won't let this story die.**

**And I still can't thank you enough for the reviews and your thoughts have been very helpful as well. :)**

**Oh and if you want, you can find me on tumblr at heystefan or twitter - hey_stef**


	5. Are you here?

**There's really no excuse for what took me so long... but here it is:**

**This chapter is only from Elena's POV**

* * *

**Elena**

It's been five days since I woke up and although I feel completely fine, the doctors won't let me out of the hospital, saying that they have to monitor me. Jeremy has been staying with me every single day, only leaving my side for sleep. I have tried a thousand times to tell him that he doesn't need to be by my side at all times, but he is very persistent and I suspect that he is trying to make up his behaviour towards me. I am very thankful to him, but I just wish that he would let me be alone just for a minute, so I could clear my thoughts.

My thoughts. They are a big mess right now. I don't remember pretty much anything about the accident and the coma, expect this one slight moment of beautiful green eyes looking at me and then there is his name. Stefan. His name was the first thing I said when I woke up. I have no idea why I said it and when Jeremy asked me about it, I didn't know what to answer him, so I made up a feeble excuse of being very confused and that it was probably just a coma induced delusion. But I know that it wasn't.

When I asked the doctors how I got to the hospital, they said that a man brought me here, and when I wanted to know where he is now, they didn't have an answer. He just had disappeared. The only thing they told me was that he had brownish hair and green eyes. That gave me all the answers I was looking for. Stefan brought me here. He had been there when I crashed my car, he saved my life. Again. I asked Jeremy if he had seen him, but he had no idea what I was talking about. I just wish I could see him, I have so many questions I'd really love to have an answer – Why was he on that road the night of the accident? How did he get here so fast, because I was told that those injuries I had should have killed me in a matter of minutes. Who is he?

The other thing is that I have been having these very strange and vivid dreams about him. They feel so real, like they have happened already and if I didn't know better, I'd swear they _are_ real.

Every time I am in a round meadow, surrounded by a thick forest. Sometimes he is also there, I feel his presence, it's so tangible, but he doesn't say anything. Stefan only looks at me with his moss green eyes and doesn't say a word. Then there are dreams where I am still in the meadow, but he isn't there. Only a lone dark road leading away from the field is present and when I take the first step, I always end up waking up with a start. Last night's dream was especially weird. It was the first time he said something. I was in the meadow, again, but this time I was crying and he was standing behind me saying that he was an angel, a guardian angel, assigned to protect me, but when, in the dream, I turned to face him, I woke up again with real tears on my face. I couldn't sleep anymore, because those words he said to me felt so realistic, like I've already lived through that situation.

"Elena." Jeremy's voice snaps me out of my reverie as he walks in my room.

"Um, yeah, what is it?" I try to compose myself.

"I just talked to the doctors, they said that you can leave today," his face breaks into a smile.

"Really?" I straighten myself up, smiling back at my brother.

"Really, really."

* * *

When I enter my home, it feels cold and desolate, like nobody has lived here a long time.

"Jeremy," I ask him, "During the coma, were you by my side all the time?"

"Yes," he shrugs, like it's no big deal. "I only went home to get fresh clothes and make sure that our house is still intact.

I give him a stern look – "You shouldn't have done that. You basically gave your entire life up because of me."

"You're my sister, okay? I'd do anything for you. Please don't push this subject, Elena. The main thing is that you're alive now," he takes a step closer and pulls me into a hug. I melt into his arms, welcoming the warmness.

"I'll probably have to go the store, there's nothing in the fridge," Jeremy says as takes my bag from the floor and starts to take it upstairs.

"Okay," I respond, too tired to argue with him. Usually keeping the fridge stocked is my job.

I don't know what to do, it feel like my life was cut off so suddenly. I can't go back to work for another month, because I have to recover, Jeremy is hovering over me like I'm a newborn, everything feels out of my control. I walk to the fireplace, where we keep our family pictures. My mom and dad, smiling at the camera, me and Jeremy on a pair of swings, laughing – it all brings back so many memories and emotions. I pick up a photo of my mom, she looks away from the camera, looking at something in the distance. It was taken a few weeks before our car drove off that bridge.

"I miss you so much," I whisper, feeling the sting of tears in my eyes, "I wish you could be here, you'd know exactly what to say and do." I stare at the picture for a while, when Jeremy's voice echoes through the hallway – "I'm going to the store now, see you in a bit."

"Yeah, yeah, take your time," I put the photo back on the mantel and wipe the tears off with the sleeve of my sweater. I hear the door closing and then the sound of an engine revving. I feel a sudden wave of exhaustion wash over me, so I decide to go to my room to get some sleep and as soon as my head touches the pillow, I fall asleep almost instantly.

* * *

_"I am going to die, aren't I?"_

_"Not if I can help it. You see that road over there?" he points to the path leading away from the meadow._

_"Yes."_

_"You can't go there, no matter how tempting that road is. Under no circumstances, understand? I know that it is hard to resist, but if you listen to me, I might be able to get you out of here."_

_I look at the road, considering his words._

_"If I go there, I won't come back?"_

_"Yes."_

_"What makes you so sure that you can bring me back?"_

_"Let's just say that I'm here to help you."_

_"Oh, that's very helpful. You were there that time in the street too, to help me. That's very convenient, isn't it? Tell me, Stefan, how the hell can you be here when this is place is apparently only my imagination." I snap._

_"Elena, it doesn't matter who I am."_

_"How does it not matter? Don't play with me, Stefan, you suddenly appear here, tell me not to go down that road, then speak about this place being made by me and that I will probably die soon. What am I to make of all of this? Just take your word and trust you? I can't do that."_

_"Elena, I..." he takes a step closer._

_"Don't come any closer!"_

_"Listen to me please!"_

_"Why should I?"_

_"Because I am here to protect you, how can you not understand that? I only want to help you. Tell me, Elena, how many times have you been close to some kind of an accident, which could've ended badly? Many times, huh?"_

_"I told you that the night you saved me."_

_"Oh, but what about the day of your car accident that brought you here? That day you tripped on the stairs and almost fell down."_

_"What? How can you know about that?"_

_"I was there,_ _I stopped you from getting hurt."_

_"But...but that's not possible, you weren't there."_

_"You see, I was there. I've been there every time something bad has happened to you. That time you almost fell off a roof, when your parents' car drove off the bridge."_

_"This is not happening." I turn my back to him._

_"Elena, I need you to listen carefully, because what I am about to tell you is going to sound crazy."_

_"You know these stories about people saying that they had a guardian angel watching over them after an accident that should have killed them? Well, they were right. You see, I am one of them, an angel. You are the one I am assigned to protect. That is why you are still alive against all odds."_

* * *

I shoot up in a sitting position, gasping for air. I don't know what time it is, but I assume it's already night, because my room is completely dark. I turn on the lamp by my bed, hands slightly shaking. That dream, that was too clear, too familiar. I'm certain I've already lived through it, it's either that or I am going completely crazy. Shivers run down my spine as I look around the room, waiting for him to pop up suddenly, but nothing happens.

I check my phone and discover it's 3 in the morning; I was asleep for almost ten hours. My senses are still on the edge and every little noise makes me jump a little. I can hear Jeremy's light snoring and the ticking of a clock on the wall. That is twice in a row, when I've had the dream where he is saying that he's an angel. Only this time, it felt even more real.

I don't know what do to as my mind won't stop replaying the scene I just saw. It goes on and on and on until I just want to hit something. In one last desperate attempt to calm myself I speak out into thin air – "Stefan, if you're here right now..." I pause, feeling like a fool, "Ugh, I'm probably going insane, but here it goes – Stefan, if you're here, please give me a sign, anything..." Nothing happens, only the ticking of a clock interrupts the dead silence. I cover my face with my hands, feeling like an utter idiot. "I really am going crazy, this coma messed up my head," I mutter under my breath.

Unexpectedly a gush of warmth washes over me, and I feel so at ease, it's like all my previous thoughts have been erased. I look around to see the source of this, but my room looks exactly the same, nothing has changed in the past minute. So where is this sensation coming from?

I take a deep breath and stand up, uncertain of my next move. The warmth doesn't leave me even when I take a step out of my room, it's constant, never ending. I go to the kitchen, still looking at every corner, expecting him to jump out behind the couch or walk through the front door. But still, nothing happens. I feel my breath getting more laboured and my hands are starting to shake. I don't understand what is happening, I feel like suffocating, I take a glass from the cupboard, but the trembling of my hands don't make it easy for me to fill it with water. My breathing is getting harder and harder by the minute and when I lean against the sink, everything goes black.

* * *

When I open my eyes, I am greeted by white walls of an unfamiliar room. I look around and see a needle sticking out of my arm and I finally recognize that I am back in the hospital.

"Elena?" Jeremy's voice rings through the room. "You awake?"

"Um... what happened?"

"You passed out in the kitchen..." he pauses for a second, "It was the weirdest thing, I suddenly woke up in the middle of the night with this strong urge to go downstairs and when I heard the sound of glass breaking, I knew something was wrong. I found you on the kitchen floor, unconscious." His face contorts in pain, "Elena, we shouldn't have left the hospital."

"It's okay, Jer," I try to console him, "I just fainted, it's no big deal."

"No big deal?" He raises his voice, "Elena you haven't been responsive for two days!"

"What?" I croak, "How's that even possible?"

"I don't know," he pinches the bridge of his nose, "The doctors don't know either."

"But I'm awake now..."my voice is still raw, "So that means we can go home."

Jeremy laughs nervously – "No way, 'Lena. Look what happened the last time. No, you're staying here for a while."

"Jeremy, please, this is ridiculous," I feel a wave of irritation wash over me, "I feel completely fine right now."

"You felt fine the last time too. Look, Elena, I'm not going to budge, I've already talked to the doctors and they agreed that you should stay here for a while. And that reminds me, I should go and tell someone that you're awake." He stands up from the chair he had been sitting on, "Please behave, and oh..." he hesitates, "There's someone here who wants to see you, he has been pretty persistent in the last two days, being here all the time..."

"Who?" I wonder out loud.

"I don't know him, but you should, figuring his name was the first thing that came out of your mouth when you came back from the coma."

"Stefan." My breath hitches a notch.

"Yeah, so I'll tell him you're awake and I'll get someone to check up on you," Jeremy says and leaves the room.

I look at the ceiling, like it's the most interesting thing I've ever seen, feeling very nervous all of a sudden. Stefan's here. He's really here.

There's a small knock on the door and the door moves a little and then I see the familiar green eyes peeking in.

"Hi, Elena." He says, smiling a little.

* * *

**A big fat thank you to all the people that still are reading this after the long wait, and I hope you have a very Merry Christmas! :) Love you all!**


	6. Who do you think you are?

**I was really excited writing this chapter and I wanted to publish it as soon as possible, so there are probably more mistakes than usually. But still, I hope you'll enjoy this!**

* * *

**Stefan**

What the hell am I even doing? Have I completely lost my mind? The rational part of my mind says that I should stay away, let her be, I'll just probably make her life even harder by stepping into it right now. But the selfish part of my brain says that I should go and talk to her, give her some answers. It's like a devil and an angel are both sitting on my shoulders, one of them urging me to go to her, the other one saying that it will be a mistake. The irony is that _I_ am an angel, shouldn't I be winning then? So, for the time being, it seems that the angel part of me has feebly succumbed to the devil part, why else would I be staring right into her big brown eyes right now?

I have no idea what she knows and what she does not know. I fairly sure that she doesn't remember anything about the meadow and me confessing my secret to her, although I have this nagging suspicion that she is aware of something, something which I really hope is not what I think it is, although, she did call for me the other night – shouted my name into thin air, expecting me to just appear in front of her, now why would she do that, if she didn't know something.

And as of right now, that is the reason why I keep convincing myself that I should speak to her, find out what she knows or what she doesn't know, although I am not making a very good job convincing that this is the _main_ reason I want to speak to her. Strangely, I feel myself wanting just to hear her voice, to look at her eyes, to feel her scent in my nose, to just be with her. And not in the sense that I am looking over her, protecting her, because that is not the same as being physically there, in the same room _with_ her. And this scares me, I am deathly afraid of these feelings towards her. I've known Elena her entire life and never before have I thought about her this way until that dreadful night in the alley when she finally met me. So I try to suppress these alien emotions, because I am not allowed to feel that way towards anyone, it's too dangerous.

"Hi, Elena," I say timidly as I peek through the door of her room. Elena's face is a mixture of different emotions, ranging from disbelief to anger to strangely, happiness. I can't understand why she would be happy to see me, but it warms my heart and I can't keep the small smile off my face.

"Stefan," she responds curtly, nodding at me, acknowledging my presence. Suddenly I find myself in a very awkward position, unaware of what I should say or do next. In short – I'm out of words. Elena stares at me intently, waiting for me to speak, but I just stand there, dumbfounded, not knowing what to do.

"So...um..." I manage to get out, "How are you feeling?"

"You're asking me how I'm feeling?" the look on her face is something between amusement and incredulousness, which does nothing to assure me.

"Um...I guess I am," I force out a little smile, at the same time wanting to kick myself.

"You can come closer too, you know, I won't bite you," she says suddenly.

"What?" my brain seems to have taken a vacation.

"You're still standing at the doorstep," Elena nods at me, a smile playing on her lips.

"Oh... right," I mumble, and walk away from the door, "Can I sit here?" I point at the chair beside her bed.

"Of course you can," she responds, her eyes never leaving my face, "And for the answer to your question is fine. I feel fine."

"That's great."

Elena doesn't say anything, and her eyes are still on my face like it's the most fascinating thing ever and I'm starting to feel uncomfortable under her scrutiny. The tension in the room is starting to build up, almost to the point where you can cut it with a knife, but neither of us says anything.

"Why are you here, Stefan?" her question breaks the tense atmosphere and takes me aback a little. Why _am_ I here?

"I wanted to know how you are doing?" my voice betrays me and makes it sound like a question. What is happening? I am really not acting like myself right now.

Elena arches one of her eyebrows – "You wanted to know how I was doing? Well, tell me, Mr. Salvatore, have you got your answer? You do know that I was in a coma for a month and two days ago I just passed out in my kitchen? You do remember bringing me here the night when I crashed my car, or is that somehow vanished from your memory?" Elena's voice may be shooting daggers at me, but her face, especially her eyes, show only but pain.

"Yes. I brought you to the hospital," I see no point in trying to deny it.

She looks away for a moment and then her eyes are again fixed on my face – "What were you doing on that road?"

"I was on the way to visit the graveyard, I have friends buried there," well that's not exactly a lie, I do have people I cared deeply for there.

"In the middle of the night?" her tone suggests that she doesn't believe me.

"Yes, I prefer visiting during the night, it's more private."

"Who are those friends, buried there? Maybe I knew them, too?"

"I don't think that you do," I respond, she would have to be over 500 years old to know them.

"So let me get this straight," Elena takes a deep breath, "You were on the road, on foot, might I add, to the cemetery, to visit your friends, whom I most certainly do not know, in the middle of the night? Am I correct?"

"Yes," There's nothing more to add.

"Tell me then, how did you bring me to the hospital? The doctors told me that if you'd been a minute late I'd be dead."

"I know a little bit of medicine, so I did what I could do to help you and then ran to the hospital," I lie smoothly, hoping that it will be enough.

"You ran five miles, all the while carrying me, and you got there in record time?" Her voice and expression tell me that she doesn't believe a word I said.

"I guess it was an adrenaline rush," I say.

Elena adjusts her position in the bed – "An adrenaline rush? You expect me to believe it?"

I'm starting to really regret the decision to come here, that girl cannot be deceived, what am I supposed to tell her? No, Elena, it wasn't an adrenaline rush and I didn't run to the hospital, I magically transported you here, like she would believe that story more – "No, I don't expect you to believe anything, but that's what happened," I add a sense of finality in my voice.

She still is unconvinced, but doesn't push the subject further.

I'm beginning to see that this conversation is going nowhere, so I decide to leave – "Elena, I'm glad you're better, but I think that I should go," and the second I get the words out of my mouth I realize I really don't want to go, but the rational part of my mind says that it would be better, so I start to stand up.

Elena's eyes grow bigger and her hand grabs mine – "No, please, don't go," she manages to get out before she snaps her hand away from mine. "Ow," she complains, "You just zapped me."

I stare at her, shocked. That shouldn't have happened, because, technically, I'm not human.

"I felt that too," I whisper, looking at my hand like it's not mine as I sink back into the chair.

"Yeah, sometimes that happens," she chuckles.

"Not to me," I mumble before I can stop myself.

"What?"

"Nothing," I try to deflect.

"You've never been zapped before?" Elena asks, her gaze questioning.

"No, no, of course I have," I laugh nervously, trying to hide my astonishment. Elena's eyes narrow infinitesimally, I swear she's a real life lie detector. Elena reaches again for my bare hand, which I quickly jerk away.

"What, are you afraid that you'll get hurt?" she teases.

I don't know why I reacted the way I did, not letting her touch me again. Am I afraid of what will happen? I scold myself mentally - nothing will happen, so I reach out my hand again. Elena touches her fingertip to my palm, and again, I feel the currency shoot through me, but it doesn't hurt. She doesn't flinch either, but looks at me with astonishment – "Do you feel that?" she breathes.

"Yes," I stare at our hands in amazement; I've never seen or felt anything like this.

There's a moment of silence when only our hands touch and we both just feel the currency flow through our bodies, and I swear that at that moment the tension in the room grows to the point where it starts to suffocate you. I raise my eyes and find hers already looking into mine – deep, big and impossibly brown.

"Who are you?" her question brings me back from the haze and I snatch my hand away and I can see that Elena's a little offended by my sudden move.

"What do you mean by who I am? I'm Stefan, you already know that." I shuffle nervously with my feet, hoping that she'll let this one drop.

"I know your name," she leans back on her bed, "And that's all. You're the mystery man, I know nothing about you. Everything you do or say only makes me ask more questions. You're not like any other person I've ever met. There's something strange about you," her gaze wanders to the ceiling and a small laugh escapes her lips. "You know, I've been dreaming about you," her eyes find mine again.

"Oh? And what did you see exactly?" I feel the suspicion raising its ugly head in me.

"The strangest thing is that those dreams I've been having don't feel like dreams at all, but memories," her expression grows serious and I feel the blood draining from my face.

"Every time I am in a meadow," she starts and my heart skips a beat. "And sometimes you are there, and sometimes you are not." She looks at me sombrely. "You usually don't say anything, you just are there. And when you're not there, there is only this dark path, but when I try to go there, I wake up." Elena's voice is barely audible and I find myself grabbing the sides of the chair so hard that my knuckles are white.

"The last few dreams, although..." she stops.

"What about them?" I'm really on the edge now.

"You spoke."

"What did I say?"

"Something I find hard to believe," her eyes search mine, like they hold all the answers she craves. "You said you were an angel," she says in one breath, her eyes never leaving mine.

Now I really feel like I'm suffocating. She remembers. This is not happening. She isn't supposed to remember. It doesn't matter that she learned the truth in her dreams, they are still memories, no matter how twisted. She knows, and she has chosen to trust those dreams. Elena believes them. There's no shift in her eyes like she does when she doesn't believe something.

"And what do you think?" I ask her, not bothering to start denying everything. It's better to find out what she thinks.

"It would explain a lot. The miraculous appearance in the street, you being on the road. I probably survived every other accident thanks to you too," she chuckles humourlessly, not looking at me anymore but the ceiling again.

I have no idea what to say to her, I see no point in telling her that it's nonsense, because it's not and the fact that she can so clearly see through my lies is not helping either. I just watch her, I can hear her soft breathing, it's calm and soothing. She isn't afraid of me, but she isn't exactly comfortable with me in this room either. What's especially frustrating is that I don't know what's happening in her mind right now.

"So is it true?" she finally asks.

"Yes."

"What happens now?"

"I don't know." I answer her truthfully.

* * *

**So the cat's finally out of the bag! Yay! Your reviews make me smile and I still can't believe that this story has got so many readers, really. :) Feel free to ask me anything and give suggestions, ideas. And you can also find me on tumblr at _heystefan_ and on twitter at _hey_stef_. Until next time! :) Love you!**


	7. A ghost from the past

**Hi! Here's the latest chapter. :)**

**All spelling and grammar mistakes are mine. **

* * *

**Elena**

I haven't seen Stefan for a week now. As soon as the truth came out, Jeremy entered the room with a nurse and Stefan just left, stood up and left. No more explanations, no good-byes, no nothing. I am still stuck in the hospital as a precaution, in case I should mysteriously pass out again. Fortunately that hasn't happened, so the doctor's are fairly optimistic about releasing me in a couple of days. Jeremy, again, has been hovering over me every single day, not letting me be alone even for a minute, it bothers me, but I guess I can understand why he does that.

What I don't understand, or should I say _who_ I don't understand is Stefan. I don't even know if I dare to admit this to myself. _Stefan Salvatore is my personal guardian angel_. How crazy does that sound?

When I lost my parents, with them, I lost all faith I once had. I didn't believe in anything – especially in supernatural creatures, but it seems that Stefan has awoken that belief in me, because I truly, genuinely believe in every word he said – it's like a part of my brain refuses to even consider the fact that maybe, just maybe, he has escaped from a nuthouse – that would be what a normal person would do. It scares me – it scares me that I have accepted every word he said so easily, and there's nothing I can do about it.

Sometimes I think I can feel him in the room, with me. The warmth I used to feel and couldn't place – I think that's Stefan. I wish I could call out to him, see him once more, but with Jeremy always by my side, I haven't had the chance.

Ever since that visit, my dreams about the meadow have been less vivid, less detailed. I still get them, but they are somehow darker, more menacing, like nightmares. Stefan is there every time, but he is broken, there's nothing good about him left, his eyes are cold and empty, devoid of emotion and that is the most terrifying part of my dreams. What's more, he has wings, the darkest shade of black you can imagine. I try to run away from him, but I always fail, he catches me and then I wake up covered in cold sweat, breathing heavily. They've gotten so bad the last few days that I'm afraid to fall asleep, so I have been forcing myself to stay up, although eventually I fall asleep anyway and the dreams come back to haunt me yet again.

There are also times where I find myself wondering where he is at the moment, is he here with me or somewhere else. And there's always a part of me that wishes Stefan to be here, with me, holding my gaze with his mesmerizing eyes, watching over me, making me feel safe, warm and on the top of the world. It's strange to think about him that way for I barely know him, yet I feel like I've known him for a lifetime. Right now my only wish is to see him again, hear his voice, even if it's only a whisper he can give me – even that would be enough.

* * *

**Stefan**

I feel like I am the biggest coward on the earth – walking out on her just like that, leaving her with the knowledge of me and what I am, and not going back to her anymore. And the minute I walked through that door I regretted my decision, felt the urge to go back to her, tell her that she has no reason to be afraid of me and that I'll always be there for her. A sudden haze of craziness took over me that moment and I almost gave in, almost ran back to Elena, although I never did. I just disappeared.

Maybe it's better that way, that she won't ever see me again. I'd only bring more trouble into her life, that I am sure of. In time she will probably forget that she ever met me and most likely think that our conversation was just a dream. It would be better that way, I keep convincing myself. But why thinking about this only makes me want to punch a hole in the wall? Why the thought of her forgetting about me makes me feel like someone's suffocating me with a pillow?

I am terrified of what I am starting to feel towards Elena. It has become more that just the platonic need to protect my charge and what I am scared the most of, is what will happen when I'll let those feelings take control of me. The past has taught me a valuable lesson when it comes to this.

I've been keeping a close eye on her for the past week, making sure that nothing happens to her and so far everything has been fine. Jeremy has also been staying with her the whole time, so I am fairly sure that even without my eyes, she would be safe, but I feel calmer when I know firsthand that she's still breathing. I know that my fear about her safety may be somewhat irrational, but I have this uneasy feeling that all of this is just calm before the storm.

Today is the only day I haven't been checking up on Elena. Instead I decided to visit the cemetery, I haven't been there for a very long time, for centuries – I don't know why but something is pulling me there today, calling for me.

I stop at the place where Elena crashed her car – it feels like it happened yesterday, every moment is so fresh in my memory. When I close my eyes I can hear the bang when her car collided with the tree, when I open my eyes I am able to picture every detail of the vehicle, how its front is almost gone, shards of glass covering the ground. I remember Elena's lifeless body in my arms, not hearing her heart beating and that horrible moment when I thought that she's gone.

I take a deep breath, trying to shake those memories when something white near the tree catches my eye. I walk closer and notice a single white lily placed at the trunk, with no signs of wilting. It must have been put here recently. I look around to see if there's anyone else nearby but I see no one. My thoughts immediately fly to Elena as the white lily is a symbol of death, but I can sense that she's fine. My stomach turns into knots as I recall the only person who used leave white lilies behind him and now I understand the need to go to the cemetery.

Mystic Falls cemetery hasn't changed a lot over time; it's still surrounded by big ancient trees, forming a canopy over some parts, making the place look like something from a horror movie, the shadows ominous, yet beautiful in a way. From afar I can hear the cawing of the crows, muffling the sounds of other birds. I can't see anyone, right now the place is deserted.

I follow the familiar trail deeper into the cemetery, the soft crunching of leaves under my feet ringing in my ears. I know exactly where I am headed - the older part of the graveyard hasn't been used for decades now and that is where the Salvatore family crypt is situated. I spot the little building and I am startled by its condition at first. The letters which should make up my family name above the door are barely readable, the marble, of which it was built, is discoloured and chipping away from places.

I walk around the crypt, making sure that there's nothing odd here and when I see nothing of interest I decide to look into the building itself. I push open the door open which gives a horrible creaking sound and am welcomed by a bunch of cobwebs, which are sticking to my face and clothes. The dusty little room has a murky smell and it's the same as I remember it to be. I walk over to the first stone coffin and brush off the dirt from the stone tablet that's attached to the wall above it. A rueful smile appears on my lips as I read my name out loud. My voice echoes through the space, causing goose bumps on my flesh. I look over to the next coffin, exactly the same as the first one, and then the next when I suddenly see a small white lily on one of the coffins. I walk over to the coffin with long strides, fear making my breathing faster. I start frantically searching for the name of the person that's in there, and when I finally find the inscription, I stumble back a few steps.

"No, it can't be..." I whisper to myself, not believing my eyes.

_Here lies Katherine Salvatore, a beloved daughter and wife._

My head snaps suddenly toward the door when I hear footsteps approaching the crypt. From the shadows I can make out a shape of a man and when he finally steps into the light I feel like the world is going to end in a second.

"Damon," I manage to gasp.

"Hello, brother," He smirks.

* * *

**Aah, what will happen next? Please let me know what you think!**

**I know this chapter is a bit shorter, but I didn't want you to keep waiting for much longer. I finally decided that the town will be Mystic Falls, only in my story it's a much older town. The next chapter will probably be a flashback one and it will hopefully answer a lot of questions.**

**I have also managed to create an outline for this story, of how it will go. Now it's only a question of my abilities, whether I am capable of writing it, as it's getting very complicated (at least in my head lol).**


	8. Looking back, part 1

**Hey! As promised this is a flashback chapter. The next chapter will also be a flashback one, because I didn't want to keep people waiting even longer, so I decided to divide this into two.**

**I also want to apologize first, for I messed up with the history, but I couldn't change much without making changes to preceding chapters, and that would have made things confusing to me and to the readers, and would have interfered with what I had planned. I hope you understand that this is still fiction, not real life.**

**And all grammar/spelling mistakes are mine.**

* * *

**Stefan**

The Salvatore brothers – best friends. That's how we were called among our family and friends. Damon and I were inseparable when we were children and even when we were both grown up, our bond never once weakened. Damon and I were different like day and night. He was bad-tempered, defiant towards our parents and their rules, and some may even say selfish. I, on the other hand, was described by people as calm, compassionate, the better brother. But it is said that the opposites attract and in a way we both worshipped the ground the other walked on. I admired Damon's confidence, how he had the courage to say what he thought, how he never gave up. And Damon told me one time that he wished he had the patient and caring nature that I possessed.

A maid in our family once said that nothing but death could separate Damon and Stefan Salvatore. I guess she was right.

* * *

500 years ago my family moved from renaissance Italy to America – a recently discovered land which in our father's eyes was a land of great opportunity. Our family never had any financial troubles, being one of the noblest families in Italy, but father thought that moving would help us to get even wealthier. I was only thirteen years old when I first set foot on the piece of land which was supposed to be our new home and fifteen when our house was finally finished. For me, it was hard to get used to our new life, but my brother, Damon, being the older sibling, was always there for me and helped me through everything that happened.

When I turned nineteen our mother died suddenly – one morning she never opened her eyes. It was a hard blow for everyone in the family, but no one suffered as much as our father. He closed himself in his room for days and neither I nor Damon could get through to him. Days, weeks, months passed and nothing seemed to get better, on the contrary, things got even worse. He started to be resentful towards Damon, blaming him for every problem we encountered, he was a little gentler towards me, but not kind. My brother and I had no idea how to deal with him, so together we decided to just take the yelling in silence, trying not to be affected by his cruel words.

The toughest times were when he blamed us for our mother's death. Damon, being the volatile, hot-tempered brother, usually got so angry at him that when he started to go on about how we were the reason of her death almost came to blows with him, but I was able to calm him down, so nothing terrible did happen.

Our father had a crypt built for our mother, he said that his wife should never be satisfied with only a headstone. He also had coffins made out of stone, big and regal, for each family member and had names engraved on each one – Giuseppe, Isabella, Damon and Stefan. At first we thought that for him it was a way of mourning and accepted his strange behaviour. Father only visited our mother's grave once, when the funeral was held. He never set foot into the crypt again. I and Damon visited the mausoleum every day, bringing flowers to her. Damon's favourites were white lilies. I have no idea where he got them, but every day he brought a white lily for our mother, setting it on her coffin. I asked him why white lilies, but he never gave me an exact answer, so in time I got used to it.

A year after our mother's death, everything changed. I was twenty years old at that time, Damon twenty-four. Father had, as usual, closed himself in his room after a strained breakfast with us. It seemed to me that he behaved even more erratic that day than he had before. I had already discussed with my brother the possibility of getting help for him, because the state he was in was clearly starting to get the best of him. Damon suspected that he had gone mad with grief, and I had no choice to agree with him. We decided that I should go to him and talk with father, since it seemed that I was able to get through to him better than Damon.

I went to father's after our daily visit to the family crypt. I felt my palms getting sweatier with every step I took. I could feel Damon's eyes on my back as he watched me go upstairs and somehow it was reassuring. When I opened the door, he was sitting behind his desk, holding a glass of alcohol in his hands. He never looked up to see who was entering the room. I cleared my throat to get his attention, and then his eyes – blue like Damon's – met mine. But those were not the familiar eyes my father had – those eyes were wary and suspicious, it seemed to me that he didn't recognize me at all.

"Father... Damon and I were thinking..." I started to say when he cut me off.

"Who the hell are you?" he barked angrily. And I felt bile rise up my throat.

"You don't know who I am?" I croaked, taking a step closer. "I'm Stefan. Your son."

"You're not my son!" he shouted, rising up from the chair. "My sons are dead!"

My mouth almost fell open as I registered his words - "What?" I barely managed to get out.

"You're here to kill me, like you killed my wife and my children!" With that sentence I realized that he had completely lost his mind.

"Father, it's me," I started to plead, fear creeping on my back as he took the letter opener from the table. I took a step back as he took a step towards me.

Suddenly the door burst open as Damon barged in - "I heard shouting, what's going on?"

"Damon," I warned, "father thinks we're dead."

Damon shot a confused glance at me, then at father, registering the sharp object in his hand. He stepped right in front of me, trying to protect me.

"Giuseppe," he rarely called him father, "put that thing down."

"So you could kill me? I don't think so." And with that last word he jumped forward with speed I never thought he had, and stabbed Damon right in the stomach. I watched with horror as my brother fell down on his knees, looking our father straight in the eyes, the letter opener was still in Giuseppe's hand, dripping with blood, Damon's shirt was getting redder and redder with blood. I felt panicked; I didn't know what to do, should I run or should I stay? I saw blood starting to pour from Damon's mouth and that was the moment I snapped. I lunged at father, hoping to wrench the bloody object from his hands. I knocked him on the floor, but I was unable to get a hold of his hand as it was slippery with blood, and father resisting me with all his strength didn't make the task any easier. We were struggling on the floor, both trying to get the upper hand.

"Brother, don't," I heard Damon grunt behind me, his voice only a whisper. I looked back for a second and saw Damon clutching his stomach with his hands, blood trickling down from his jaw, he was barely alive. For a moment I was so overwhelmed by anger and worry that I forgot that father still had the letter opener and that was what cost me my life. I looked straight into Damon's blue eyes, so much like our mother's as I felt the cold spreading all over my body. I felt something in my back, twisting, causing immense pain and the last thing I remember is my father saying in my ear – "That's for my sons."

* * *

I woke up with a sharp intake of cold air, it hit my lungs as painfully as someone was punching me in the face with a fist. I started coughing terribly, unable to pull myself together. Suddenly I felt someone's hands on my shoulders and then a familiar voice was saying – "Stefan, it's okay, try to breathe."

I looked up, and I was greeted by my brother's face. He was looking worriedly at me.

"Damon?" I managed to get out in between the violent coughs that were racking my body.

"Take a deep breath, Stefan. Listen to my voice. Try to concentrate on your breathing," his voice was soothing and soon I felt my body starting to relax, my breathing got easier and the coughing got better.

"I saw you get stabbed," I remembered.

"And I saw you die," Damon responded, making a grimace, "yet, here we are."

"What?" I couldn't believe what he was saying. "I died?"

"Yep," he made a popping sound on the P, "I guess I did too, as I don't remember anything after seeing you fall cold on the floor."

It was then I noticed Damon was still wearing the same shirt, a patch of red colouring a big part of it. My hands automatically went to my back, but I couldn't feel anything there, only a small hole in my shirt.

"Giuseppe stabbed you in the back," his voice was grave, "I am going to murder him."

"Where the hell are we?" I looked around, but I couldn't recognize the place as it was the middle of night.

"Somewhere in the forest near the house. The bastard probably dropped our bodies here, hoping on the wild animals to finish his job," Damon stood up.

"Dammit, I should've known that he was not right in his head. I never should've let you go there alone," he kicked a stone with his boot.

"It's not your fault, Damon..." I started to say.

"Of course it's my fault, Stefan!" he shouted. "I suspected a long time ago that the old man was not sane, but I choose to ignore it! Look where it got us!" he started frantically walking in a circle.

"How are we even alive?" I asked, deciding to stand up.

"How should I know? One minute you're dead, the next I am lying in a pool of my own blood, the third I wake up here," Damon snapped, still pacing nervously around.

"You don't find it strange that we're actually alive and breathing instead of being cold and dead?"

"What? Stefan, do you think me for a fool?" irritation was clear on his face, "Of course I find it strange..." he stopped in the middle of the sentence. "Do you hear that?" his head was going back and forth as he was hearing something I clearly didn't.

"Hear what? It's middle of night, Damon, there's probably animals roaming around."

"No, no, it's not animals."

I looked around, my eyes had adjusted already to the darkness, and the moon was dimly lighting the forest around us, but I couldn't see or hear anything out of the ordinary.

"Damon..." I started, but he shushed me and suddenly dragged me behind a tree with unimaginable speed.

"What the..." I started to say, startled by his abrupt movements, but he shot me look which told me to be quiet, although his eyes betrayed the same question as I had in mind – how was he able to move that fast?

That was when I was able to hear that too. Footsteps. Approaching us, and fast. I could feel my heart starting to beat frantically, thinking that maybe father had come back. I looked my brother straight into eyes and mouthed – "There's someone here." He only gave me a curt nod and then he stepped out from behind the tree we were hiding.

"Well, hello there," he greeted the newcomer, giving his signature smirk, "I wasn't expecting company."

The footsteps had ceased by now, indicating that the person had stopped. I was still behind the tree, while Damon was facing whoever was there. I decided that I couldn't leave my brother alone, so I stepped out too. Damon cast me an angry glance when he heard me; he probably had wanted to deal with this alone.

A man was standing right in front of us, his shoulders covered by a black cape. He was a bit shorter than I and had curly, light brown hair. Behind him, a woman was standing, but I couldn't make out her features, because her face was shaded with the hood of her cape.

"Ah, the Salvatore brothers in flesh. We've been waiting for you." The man spoke first, with a strong accent.

"I'm sorry, what?" Damon asked, "You've been waiting for us?"

I took a step closer to see the man's face better.

"Yes," he responded simply, "My name is Niklaus and this lovely lady here is Rebekah. We're here for you."

"You've got to be kidding me," Damon rolled his eyes. "Look, Niklaus," he sneered his name, "We've had a fair share of crazy today, so let's just all go on our own way." He turned his back and started walking away, beckoning me to follow him.

"You aren't curious of why you are still alive?" Niklaus called.

"You know something about this?" I asked, before Damon could stop me.

"Stefan, let's go," Damon urged, pulling my arm.

"No, I want to hear what he has to say."

I took another step closer and saw the woman, Rebekah, looking at us with amusement. The man's face was a blank page.

"You were saying..." I indicated the man to start speaking.

"To make things simple and not to drag this on any longer, I'll just say that it was I who gave you two new lives." He looked both of us, still not showing any emotion. "As it was destined all along."

"Stefan, don't listen to him," Damon was getting agitated beside me, but I stayed still, somehow believing the man.

"What do you mean by it was destined?" I asked.

Niklaus started to open his mouth, but Damon cut him to the chase – "Who the hell are you?"

That was the first time the man showed any emotion at all – he smiled. "Damon Salvatore, always so rash and unpredictable. But if you must know, then you shall. I am an archangel as is my dear sister behind me. You, Stefan and Damon, are meant to be angels too. It's quite fascinating in fact, as you are, or I can now say, were, human. There was a prediction of two human boys, destined to be the first angels of your race. We've been waiting for you over thousand years."

That was the beginning of our new lives. Me as a guardian angel, because of my compassion and ability of helping people, Damon as an angel of death, carrying people to the afterlife. The truth was hard to accept, at first, especially for Damon, but in time we both adjusted and learned to live our new lives.

It turned out that Damon and I were truly the first humans to become angels. We tried to get to know more about the prediction, as it seemed there was more to it, but everyone we asked always kept their silence, so eventually we stopped asking.

_To be continued..._

* * *

**So here it is. Please let me know what you think! :) And I promise that there's going to be a lot of Stelena in the future, but for the sake of this story I have to clear some things up with Stefan and Damon. **

**And here's a little preview of the next chapter:**

_350 years later_

**_Stefan_**

Katherine Pierce was a radiant woman, full of life. I first saw her when I was keeping an eye on one of my charges – her father's betrothed. It was the day that her father introduced Katherine to the woman who was going to be her stepmother. Katherine was only nineteen years old that time and already she reminded me a lot of Damon. Her mannerisms, the way she spoke, her sense of humour. One day I found myself thinking that if she had lived during the time Damon and I were still human, she would have been the perfect match for him.


	9. Looking back, part 2

**Hi! Here's the second part of the flashback. Enjoy! :)**

**All grammar/spelling mistakes are mine.**

* * *

_350 years later_

**_Stefan_**

Katherine Pierce was a radiant woman, full of life. I first saw her when I was keeping an eye on one of my charges – her father's betrothed. It was the day that her father introduced Katherine to the woman who was going to be her stepmother. Katherine was only nineteen years old that time and already she reminded me a lot of Damon. Her mannerisms, the way she spoke, her sense of humour. One day I found myself thinking that if she had lived during the time Damon and I were still human, she would have been the perfect match for him.

A year passed and Katherine was permanently living with her new stepmother and her father. They had got married in a beautiful ceremony by the lake near their house. It had been a sunny summer day and everyone had been going on about how Katherine's going to be the next to marry. Her father had even found her a suitable match, and soon a meeting between the young people was arranged.

What I first thought to be excitement in Katherine's eyes soon turned into disappointment as the boy had nothing in common with her, and with her fiery nature, she let everyone know how much she despised the thought of being his future wife. Unfortunately, her father didn't budge, so she was like a bird in a cage, not free to do what her heart desired. But as a bird can fly free when its owner forgets to close the door of the cage, everything changed one day when one day I spotted Damon standing by the lake, gazing the waters.

I didn't understand why he would be there, but then it dawned on me that he is probably here for someone – "Damon," I greeted him, "didn't expect to meet you here." I smiled, somewhat happy to see him, although I knew the purpose of him being here.

"Brother." He acknowledged me. "It's been a while."

"It's been almost two years..." I paused.

"What brings you here?" I still asked, even though the answer was painfully clear. I hated to see people dying, especially the ones I've known for a long time.

"Just doing my job," he responded, "I could ask you the same question, but I figured that your charge is someone from the family."

"You just got here, how could you know that?" Something felt off, there was something odd about his tone of voice.

"Oh, Stefan, you know nothing. I've been here for almost a three weeks now." Damon's voice was sharp.

"What?" I couldn't keep the surprise out of my voice, something was clearly going on.

Damon looked me in the eyes and there was nothing but pain in those icy blue orbs. He spoke in a strained and silent voice – "I couldn't do it, Stef, for the first time in 350 years I couldn't do what I was supposed to do."

"What are you talking about?" concern was starting to take over my emotions.

"The girl," he whispered, "Katherine."

I almost choked, the realization hitting me hard – "What about her?"

"She's the one I came for."

I clenched my fists, trying to calm myself. It was hard to think about, but if it was her time to go, who was I to question it?

I closed my eyes and pushed the words out of myself – "Then why is she still alive?" I didn't realize I was holding my breath at the same time.

"I said I couldn't do it!" Damon raised his voice.

"Why?" my voice was a bare whisper.

He took a deep breath and there was a minute of silence as Damon was contemplating whether he should tell me or not. I put a hand on his shoulder for assurance but he brushed it off.

"There's something about her eyes," he finally started. "They're so sad and yet so alive, they reminded me of how it was to be human." He said with bitterness. "I knew what I had to do, she was so close, but then she raised her head and I swear, Stefan, I swear she looked me straight into eyes...and I just couldn't do it. I stayed around, hoping to find another chance, but the more I watched her, the more uncertain I became. She's different, Stefan. I've never met someone like her."

It was strange hearing my brother talk about someone in that way. It wasn't like him at all, but the biggest shock came when he uttered the next words.

"I introduced myself to her, Stefan."

I could swear that my heart skipped a beat – "You did what?

"I had to get to know her. And I'm glad I did." He was watching me intently, looking for my reaction. "Katherine's everything I ever wanted, brother. She's amazing, the most stunning woman I've ever known.

I was speechless, I had never heard Damon talk about someone like that, it was like...it was like he was in love with her. Damon's eyes were still locked with mine, trying to decipher my expression. My mind was working frantically, thinking about all the possibilities this situation may cause, I had to find out his intentions, that was what drove me to ask the next question.

"Do you love her?"

Damon froze beside me, averting his gaze, which was more than a confirmation to my suspicions.

"Yes."

"Does she love you?" I had to ask.

"Yes."

"What are you going to do now, Damon? Don't you know how dangerous this is? What if Niklaus or Rebekah, or even worse, Mikael finds out? We aren't supposed to get attached to people, less fall in love with them!" I was starting to shout, out of fear for my brother, although a part of me was glad for him.

"You really think that I haven't thought about it, Stefan?" he spat out my name, getting annoyed with me. "Do you really think that I wanted this? That it was my choice? Love isn't a choice!" he pushed me, causing me to stumble backwards.

Damon was glaring at me, visibly shaking from frustration - "I thought you'd be more supportive, brother. I thought I could trust you!"

"Of course you can trust me!" I snapped, hurt that he assumed that I wouldn't.

"I am going to take Katherine and find us a place to stay, where no one can find us." Damon suddenly told me after a moment of silence, his voice much calmer than before.

"You can't avoid angels, especially archangels, Damon." I warned, "They'll find you eventually."

"If I am careful enough, they won't."

"How can you be sure of that?"

"I have my ways," he smirked and then disappeared, leaving me alone.

The same day, Katherine had gone out for a walk and never returned. I watched as the whole family searched for her for several months, but to no avail, eventually they all gave up and decided to ignore that she ever existed. I guess it was too painful for them to deal with.

* * *

Over the next few years I tried to seek Damon out, but has he had said, he was impossible to track. I also got several visits from Klaus and Rebekah, questioning me about the whereabouts of my brother, but I couldn't tell them anything about him and even if I had known something about Damon, I wouldn't have informed them.

It was almost ten years later that I finally found him – in a place I thought I'd never see again. Our old home – the town of Mystic Falls.

I had never seen my brother so happy before, Katherine was definitely good for him. I didn't know what foolish urge made me go to him, but I decided that I have to have at least one conversation with my brother, even if it's only for a few minutes. They had a little house, well into the woods, hidden from curious eyes; it was a bleak evening when I knocked at the door.

Damon's eyes almost jumped out of the sockets when he registered who was at his doorstep, but I couldn't help but smile a little.

"Stefan..." he choked, trying to get a control of his face.

"Hello, brother. May I come in?" I peeked over his shoulder into the house, I could hear faint footsteps approaching.

"Darling, who's there?" a woman's voice, Katherine's voice, called.

"No one of importance," Damon shouted and pushed me more outside, slamming the door closed behind him.

"What are you doing?" he hissed, grabbing the collar of my jacket. His eyes were roaming around like they were looking for something.

"Damon, calm down," I tried to reason with him, baffled by his behaviour, "I accidentally saw you in town and I wanted to see you, talk to you."

"You shouldn't have, they could follow you!" his eyes were still wandering around.

"Who?" I couldn't understand.

"Niklaus, Rebekah! Whoever's after me!" he shouted, and pushed me again.

"I'd know, if I were being followed, Damon." I was sure in my words, but a stray thought in my mind tugged at me, questioning if I really believed that.

"No, you wouldn't, Stefan!" he threw his hands in the air, exasperated. "I have to leave this place now, if they find us, if they find Katherine..." Damon was almost talking to himself, pacing around, clearly afraid.

"Damon, I..." I wanted to apologize, but he cut me off.

"Quiet! Did you hear that?" he stopped dead in his tracks.

I did hear it. A faint whooshing sound, the crunch of the leaves, a twig snapping in two and then I saw it. A bright light coming from the trees, approaching us – I couldn't make out what it was until it was already upon us – two dark human shapes – Niklaus and Rebekah.

"Ah, Stefan." Niklaus smiled at me, "And the long lost brother Damon." Damon shot him a deadly glare.

"I have to thank you, Stefan, for leading us here. I fear, without your help, we would never have found him." His words were like a punch in the stomach – I had basically betrayed my brother.

"Damon..." I stepped in front of him, a sudden craze coming over me. "Go get Katherine."

Damon did has I said, running back to the house.

Rebekah started laughing – "You really think that you can stop us? You're a mere guardian angel, you don't stand a chance."

"No, but I can give my brother a chance to escape." I responded.

"He has broken the rules, Stefan." Klaus started speaking again. "I'm sure you can understand that."

"He is still my brother, I'd do anything for him."

"How brave..." Niklaus mused, taking a step closer. "You see, I can understand the importance of family as well as anyone, but treason, Stefan – that I can't stand. And what your brother did was a vile thing. Giving up his duties for a human, for love – that's outrageous. What example we would be, if we'd let this go unpunished?" he smirked evilly and then with a flick of his finger, he cast me aside, causing immense pain all over my body.

They continued on to the house, my only hope was that Damon had time to get at least Katherine out of the building, before Niklaus could get to her.

I was still trying to overcome the pain that was torturing my body when Niklaus came out of the house, dragging Damon along with him. I couldn't see Rebekah anywhere.

"Stefan," Niklaus called, "I need you to watch what happens to traitors." He flicked his finger again and the pain disappeared immediately. I struggled to my feet, facing my brother and the archangel. Damon's face was so full of fear, I had never before seen him like this.

"Please...do what you need to do with me, but leave Katherine alone," he begged quietly.

"Now, why would I do that?" Niklaus asked, "I'm sure that Rebekah's having quite a bit of fun with her right now, and I think that she would make a perfect example for all the other angels who are thinking of betraying us." He shot a sharp glance at me and at the same time, a bloodcurdling scream came out of the house.

"NO! KATHERINE!" Damon bellowed, fighting to get himself free of Niklaus' grip.

The screams were starting to diminish and when they ceased completely, Rebekah stepped out of the house, her hands red with blood. Damon cast one look at her and then broke down completely, giving up the fighting.

"What did you do?" I shouted, not wanting to believe that they were capable of something that horrible.

"Just teaching him and you a lesson." Rebekah shrugged, like it was no big deal, "Niklaus, I'm bored now, let's just get this over with."

"What are you going to do with him?" I asked, directing my gaze to Damon, who was now just standing beside Niklaus, his head lowered.

"Kill me." He uttered, raising his head. "I don't want to live anymore." He locked his eyes with mine, and they were full of hate, sadness and misery.

"I don't think that would be a punishment enough," Niklaus spoke, "No... that would be too...easy." He smiled.

"Niklaus," Rebekah whined, "Stop stalling."

"Yes."Niklaus turned to Damon – "Damon Salvatore – you're no longer an angel of the lord. You're cast out of heaven and are hereby damned to roam the earth for an eternity."

I watched with horror as I realized what he was about to do. Death would certainly be easier. I tried to run to Damon, to do anything I could to help him, but Rebekah was beside me in a flash, forcing me to watch, holding me back.

I was helpless as I watched my brother fell. Damon Salvatore was now a fallen angel.

After that night I never saw Damon again. I was locked in heaven for 50 years, as a punishment for trying to help him. And after my release, I decided that I'd never let something like this happen again.

* * *

**Thanks for reading! Love you all!**

**Until next time! :)**


	10. It's not that quiet

**Stefan**

"Damon...I..." I stammer, still too stunned of my brother's sudden appearance. I had already accepted the fact that I am not going to see him ever again, but it seems that fate has other plans for me, as he is standing before me, in flesh.

"Stef, what's the matter? Cat's got your tongue?" he teases, still smirking, although his eyes are empty of any emotion.

"I don't know what to say really..." I finally get out, although my mind is still a jumble, different questions popping out every second.

"Ooh, and I thought I would get a warmer welcome, tell me, how long has it been, brother?" he brushes off the dust from the nearby coffin like it's the most natural thing for him to do.

"A while." I admit.

"A while? Really, Stef? Is that the best you can do?" Something flashes in his eyes, something I have never seen directed towards me – hate.

"Look, Damon, I swear that I honestly thought that you may be..." I begin, finally finding my resolve, but he cuts me off.

"Dead?" he snaps. "No, just fallen," he sneers, taking a step forward, his hand brushing the lid of the coffin next to him, causing the dust to rise.

"What was I supposed to do? I looked for you for a very long time, but I couldn't find you." I raise my voice, frustrated by his behaviour.

"Maybe you should've looked harder, or maybe I didn't want to be found, ever thought of that?"

I thought about that possibility a lot, actually. After that wretched night the guilt has been eating me from inside every day - what I caused to Damon and Katherine. I shouldn't have gone there, but for purely selfish reasons I did, and ruined Damon's life.

I am again at loss of words, remembering Katherine's screams and the way Damon just gave up when he realized the love of his life is gone, and how he fell. I am suddenly afraid to face Damon, although I am relieved that he is, in fact, still alive.

Damon strides past me, towards Katherine's coffin when he understands that I am not going to respond. His shoulder brushes mine and when usually I get a sense of warmth from people and other angels, the feeling I get from Damon is something else; it's menacing, cold, and violent. I look over my shoulder at Damon as he is now standing beside Katherine's coffin, looking down on it, and I can almost see something flickering in his eyes.

"You know, we got married shortly after we escaped." He tells suddenly, his voice barely audible, stroking the lid of the coffin, gently even. I am completely surprised and taken aback by his confession.

"Damon... I am so so sorry." I say, every molecule of my body screaming along with my words, the guilt comes rushing back and consumes me.

He looks up to me, glaring, his face full of anger, maybe even sadness. "You're sorry? You think that's going to redeem what you did, being sorry?" he practically snarls. "You," he takes two long steps and is right in front of me, poking his finger at my chest – "You destroyed my life."

I stagger back, shocked. I have never seen Damon like this, it's like that everything that was good about him, was stripped, and now only the dark, evil part remains.

"What happened to you?" I whisper, trying to get a hold of myself. I have always known that I am partly responsible to what happened, but I never imagined even in my wildest dreams that my brother would put _all_ the blame on me.

"Always the naïve one, Stefan, aren't you?" he stays in place, not coming any closer. "Don't you know what happens to an angel when they fall?" he smiles, but not in a good way. "They lose everything that was good about them," his grin gets even wider. "So don't hope to have our epic reunion here, brother. The only thing I want to have, is to see your life crumbling down like mine did."

It's like someone stabbed me in the gut, repeatedly, his words hurt more than I could ever imagine.

"Why are you here then?" I barely whisper.

"Oh, I've been waiting for an opportunity to arise, but you're such a goody-goody brother, that there weren't many chances to do anything really..." Damon watches me as I try to process what he's saying and at first I can't understand what he's referring to, but it suddenly dawns on me.

Damon's face lightens up as he sees that I understood – "The reason, I believe, is a pretty thing." He takes a step closer. "Long brown hair, big doe-eyes, body to die for...and for some reason it seems that you, my oh so moral brother, has taken sudden interest in her." Satisfaction rolls off of him in waves when he sees that he has hit the spot.

"Elena," I choke out, the room is suffocating me, I have to get out of here now. I have to get to Elena.

"Ah, such a pretty name – Elena." He tells the name out loud, but coming from him it sounds like something poisonous.

"You stay away from her," I warn, overwhelmed by different emotions, but the one that strikes out is pure rage, even hatred. "If you want to punish somebody, punish me, leave her out of this. This is between you and me."

"Now, why would I do that?" He walks past me, towards the door, "Where's the fun in that?" I can detect a hidden threat in his words but when I turn around to face him, I can't see him anymore. He's gone. My thoughts automatically fly to Elena. I have to keep her safe, no matter what happens.

* * *

**Elena**

I am sitting alone in my room, writing in my diary, when I feel the shift in the air around me. I can feel _him_. The warmth and the happy feeling I always get when he is around. Stefan. His name is the sweetest sound to my ears. It rolls off my tongue so easily, so smoothly.

The feeling I get when he's with me, is indescribable. I feel I could fly to the end of the world, I feel alive, I feel like I am home. With Stefan, I am home.

I turn around and see him smiling at me. "Mr. Salvatore," I smile back, "don't you know it's rude to barge in a girl's room without knocking?" I stand up and walk up to him, keeping my eyes fixed on his.

"I am terribly sorry, Miss Gilbert." He grins and suddenly disappears. I am startled a little by that trick but I burst out laughing when I hear the sound of knocking on my door.

The door opens slightly and the familiar green eyes peek through. "May I have your permission to enter?" he chuckles lightly.

"Yes." I say, "You may enter."

He opens the door wide open and closes the distance between us, pulling me into his arms.

"I missed you." I mumble into his jacket, inhaling his scent, it's so intoxicating.

"I was only gone a few hours, 'Lena." I love how he calls me Lena, my parents used to do that, and now, Stefan is the only one allowed to use that nickname.

"I know, but it felt like days," I pout, not bothering to hide it.

Stefan laughs lightly and kisses my forehead – "You're so cute when you're sulking. I love it."

"Hey, not fair!" I exclaim, slapping his chest, "You don't get to make fun of me!" I play along, although his comment made me feel like a schoolgirl. He's a true charmer.

"Who's making fun of you?" he asks playfully.

"You are."

"Me?" he fakes being offended and then I start to laugh again.

Then he starts to laugh with me and it's the most wonderful sound you could ever imagine. It's so carefree and melodious, like an angel singing a song; however, he is an angel, so in that case it may be even true.

Stefan stops first and caresses my cheek with his palm, I lean into the touch, savouring the moment. "I love to hear you laugh," he confesses, "It makes me so happy to see you happy."

"You make me happy," I breathe, my concentration flying out the window as he pulls me even closer to his god-like body.

I get on my toes as I reach for him, touching my lips lightly to his, I can feel the current flow through me, never ceasing to amaze me. I wrap my hands around his neck, pulling him closer to me and he puts his hands on my waist, holding me steady as we deepen our kiss. His lips – so perfect - move in unison with mine. I let him guide me towards the bed in my room and as my back touches the bed, my eyes snap open.

There's no light, only darkness. The only sound I can hear is the faint rustling of the bed sheets as I move my legs. It was only a dream. A wonderful, amazing dream.

My heart is beating so fast right now that I feel like it's going to burst, my palms are sweaty and my nerves are on the edge. I take several deep breaths before I finally start to calm down.

I am still at the hospital, the doctors decided that they'd release me tomorrow, so it's my last day here. I convinced Jeremy to go home for the night, so for the first time I am completely alone.

I almost have my heart rate under control when I am hit by the familiar wave of warmth. Stefan.

I look around but I see no one.

"Stefan?" I croak, my voice hoarse. I need water.

"Are you here? Please, I can feel you."

Still, there's no answer but the feeling doesn't stop either. He is here, I am sure of it.

"Listen to me, Stefan," I begin, not giving him a chance to back down again, "I am not afraid of you, there's a lot I don't understand, but the one thing I am sure of, is that you're not a threat. If that's what you're thinking." I mutter the last sentence.

"I know you're here." My voice has finally found its strength again.

There's a shift in the shadows, an infinitesimal movement, but I still see it.

"Stefan." I straighten myself more into an upright position.

He emerges from the shadows, his face wary, maybe even a little afraid. Why would he be afraid?

"I knew it." I say, unintentionally, thoughts taking over my tongue. I can't help but smile.

He keeps his distance, which annoys me, I want him to be closer to me, I want to feel his presence.

"Hello," He says, "Again." His lips form a timid smile.

"Why are you here?" I can't help to wonder. Well, I know what his so called "job" is, but, still I want to know more.

"Um...I thought we'd already went over that." There's so much uncertainty in his eyes that I can't help to assume that something must be wrong.

"Yeah, I know, but..." I hesitate, "I mean I am still in the incredulousness phase right now and I don't know how to act."

"I understand. It's natural. It would be strange for you to act any differently."

He still is standing so far away from, I just can't stand it.

"Come sit," I beckon, nodding my head at the chair beside my bed.

He blinks his eyes a few times, looking at me like I've just asked something unbelievable. I give him a reassuring smile and he finally comes and sits. I feel relieved.

"So, Stefan," I begin, but he cuts me off, his head snapping to the direction of the door.

"What the..." I try to start again, but this time he puts his finger on my lips, shushing me. My eyes grow big by his sudden action and for a second our eyes meet, burning through each other. And again, I can feel the current flowing through me and I know that he can feel it too. We breathe together, eyes still locked and the moment feels like it lasts for a lifetime.

Stefan's next words end the moment – "We have to go. Now."

* * *

**Thank you for reading! :) And a big thank you for all your reviews, you guys are amazing, I love you all! :)**


	11. Nothing left to say

**Hi! There's not a lot of action in this chapter, but hopefully, you still like this.  
**

**All mistakes are mine!  
**

* * *

**Elena**

"Go?" I mumble, confused. "Why? Where?" I am not sure if I am comfortable going with him just like this. I mean, I trust Stefan completely, it is something I can't change, even though I have known him for a very short time, but jumping blindly into the unknown is really not my thing.

"Do you trust me?" his voice is urgent and his eyes are darting to the door. If I didn't know better, I'd swear there is some form of terror in his divine green eyes.

I nod slowly, locking my eyes with his. I hope that he can read mine as well as I can read his. Although, mine are not as beautiful.

He reaches out his hand, offering it to me. I look at it and then I look at Stefan – "Take my hand, Elena," he says, giving me a small smile of encouragement.

I reach my own hand out hesitantly and place it into his. I guess it's time to go against what I usually do. Stefan puts his other hand onto mine and then I suddenly feel like the air is being sucked out of me, like I am falling into a deep whole with no way out. I close my eyes, waiting for the inevitable collision with the land, but it never happens. Instead I feel the atmosphere turning back to normal and then I hear Stefan's smooth voice very close to my ear – "Open your eyes."

I force myself to open my eyes, and I recognize my own room, even though it's dimly lit. I look around and see Stefan's face very close to mine and that's when I realize that my feet aren't touching the ground. I am in Stefan's arms. His very strong and firm arms. My breath hitches and it's very hard to concentrate with his arms on my body and his delicious scent in my nose. It takes all of my willpower to utter those next words – "Um, you can put me down now."

He drops me really fast, too fast even, as he, too, finally realizes that he is still carrying me. "I'm sorry," he mutters under his breath as he takes a step back.

I wobble on my feet, still weak from all the lying in the bed and this strange trip here. Wait. How did I get here? It suddenly hits me, and hard.

"What the hell, Stefan?" I practically start shouting, my emotions and maybe even fear taking over, "What was that?"

"Elena, I am so sorry," again with the apologizing, why does he look so guilty?

"Sorry for what? Stefan, I need answers." I try to continue my previous shouting, but I fail miserably and the voice that now comes out of my mouth is tired and weak. I push a strand of hair out of my face as I sit on the bed, my legs starting to give up on me. From the corner of my eye I can see Stefan taking a step forward, like he wants to come and support me, but at the last second he stops and takes back his old position by the window. I look expectantly at him, waiting for him to start talking.

"It was the only way to keep you safe." He breaks the silence.

"Safe? Safe from what?"

* * *

**Stefan**

How do I even begin to explain everything to her? _"Hey, I believe that my evil brother, who is by the way, also a fallen angel, wants to hurt you."_ No sane person would accept that so easily. But then again, she accepted the truth about me fairly quickly. Am I saying that she's crazy? No, definitely not.

_Elena beckoned me to sit on the chair beside her bed, which surprised me greatly. She wanted me to be closer to her. I couldn't help but wonder why. But the brief moment I got to be beside her was cut short as I suddenly heard a very familiar voice, and heavy footsteps echoing in the corridor. Damon._

"_Baby bro, I know you're here. I also know that you can hear me. Visiting the precious Elena, aren't we?" I could picture the smirk on his face as he was approaching the room. Elena was just beginning to say something again, when I cut her off the second time, this time, putting a finger on her lips, surprising myself and her, too, by my unexpected movement. _

_And there it was again – the current flowing through me, a sensation so strange, so good. I could swear there was a second when only I and Elena existed in the entire world. A second, where there was no worries, no sadness, only pure joy. _

_But the moment was short-lived as Damon's voice pierced through my head – "Now, I wonder which room it could be? Maybe this one?" I could hear him opening a door, fortunately not the room's we were in._

_I had to do something. I had to get Elena away from Damon. I had no idea of what kind of powers Damon possessed, so there was no way to be sure that I could keep her from harm's way if something would've happen. I had to get her to a safer place._

"_We have to go. Now." I had made my decision._

"It's complicated," I finally answer, knowing that she won't give up on the subject, but not wanting to jump into the pool. Not just yet.

"Complicated how?" her answer is immediate and her eyes find mine again. Such gorgeous eyes they truly are. "I thought the question was fairly simple – safe from what?" she repeats her initial question.

I am stuck, reached an impasse. There's only one way to go and it's back to the beginning. Meaning that I have to tell her. A part of me tells me that if she didn't know, she'd be safer, but not telling her would be unfair to Elena. She has a right to know.

"My brother." I whisper, "Safe from my brother." I feel like a huge stone has been lifted off my chest as I let out a big breath, realizing that I'd been holding it all the while.

I can see her eyes visibly grow bigger as she registers what I just said. Her face is like watching a play – it goes from incredulousness to fear, to confusion. I wish I could read her mind to know what she's thinking.

"Y-y-your brother?" she stutters, eyeing me nervously.

"Yes." I try to keep my voice calm. "His name is Damon."

"How's that even possible?" she adjusts her position on the bed

"That I have a brother?" I chuckle lightly, running a hand through my hair. It's been a very long day.

"Yes. I thought you were immortal, so I just assumed..." I can detect the uncertainty in her voice.

"That I had no family. I understand." I take a step closer to her, pointing at the free space beside her. "May I?" I ask. I need to be closer to her.

She nods, and I could swear that her face lightens up a little as I sit next to Elena.

I examine her face, searching for fear or anything that indicates that I she doesn't want me here, but I don't see anything, so I decide to continue, get everything out – "I was human once." Elena sucks in a sharp breath. I smile ruefully – "So was my brother. My family moved here from Italy when I was thirteen."

"Go on." Elena urges me to tell the rest of the story.

"Damon was my best friend, and our bond became even stronger when our mother died, when I was only nineteen. Father didn't take it too well, though." I grimace and I guess that Elena sees that, because she takes my hand in hers, making soothing movements with her fingers. I watch her delicate hands next to mine, mesmerised by them.

"What happened?" her question brings me back to reality.

I take a deep breath, I didn't imagine recalling all of that would be this hard – "I don't know exactly what happened to him, I can only guess. Father probably went mad with grief. A year after our mother's passing, he didn't recognize us anymore and in confusion he killed us. Me and my brother."

Elena stops making circles with her fingers, and looks up at me – "I am sorry," she says sincerely, eyes brimmed with tears.

"It's okay," I murmur, "It's in the past."

"He was your father," she responds, "You never forget," Elena squeezes my hand.

She's right. I haven't forgotten and every time I recall those events something inside me breaks over and over again. He was our father. How could he? How come he didn't know who I or Damon was? What drove him to that point that he thought it'd be better to kill us?

I sigh – "Damon and I woke up in a forest near home. And there we were greeted by two strangers." I pause, deliberating on how much I should tell her.

"Who were they?" Elena asks, curiosity lacing her voice.

"Archangels."

Her eyes widen in disbelief – "You're saying that there are other kinds of angels too?"

"Yes." I simply respond.

"I should've figured that" she mumbles under her breath, looking away for once. "So then what happened?"

"You don't want to know more about the archangels?" I am seriously surprised that she doesn't ask for more information about them.

"Well...I do... but I want to know more about what happened to you and Damon." She gives a small smile, tilting her head to the side – "You can tell me about the archangels later, in the future."

I am speechless. She still wants me to be in her life, even in the future. Not in a guardian angel way, but in the way that we could talk, see each other eye to eye. Somehow, it makes me feel invincible, that I could do anything I wanted. This feeling is brand new to me.

"Stefan?" her voice wakes me up from dreaming.

"Oh, yes, now where were we?" I finally manage to get out

"You were telling me about the forest and the... archangels."

"Right." I clear my throat, ready to continue the story.

"Damon and I were the first humans to become angels. We were told that we were destined to be the first angels of our race, we tried to get to know more about that, but didn't manage to get any new info. Although, I am sure that there's more to that."

"So, you and Damon, you are both guardian angels?" Elena asks, after a minute of thinking. Her hand is still holding mine. I can also feel the strange current flowing through me, as it seems to do every time I touch Elena. It's not a bad feeling; on the contrary, it feels like heaven.

"No." I realize that I left out a piece of information. "Damon was an angel of death."

I can swear that there's a hint of fear in her eyes – "Was?"

"He fell." It's hard to say it out loud, I can't remember if I've ever said it to myself even.

"I don't understand?" she voices it as a question, but I can see that she knows exactly what I meant by that.

"Damon is a fallen angel. He fell because he loved a girl." My own voice is getting kind of shaky.

Elena pulls back her hands and as soon as she does that, I yearn to touch her again. The current is cut off so suddenly and it takes a great amount of strength to keep me from grabbing her hands again, just to feel it again. Instead I place my own hands on my lap and stare at them.

"Her name was Katherine." I begin. "She was supposed to die young, and Damon was the one who had to carry her to the other side." I look at Elena, but her face is a blank page, and she doesn't look at me.

"Damon fell in love. So did she. But angels are not allowed to get attached to people, less fall in love with them. We have to do our job and that's that."

Now comes the hardest part. I take a deep breath to prepare myself as I am about to live through that night again. Elena is still quiet.

"Katherine and Damon ran. They hid themselves from the archangels, knowing that if they are found, there are going to be dire consequences. But one day I saw Damon. Here. In Mystic Falls. Our old home."

That is what makes Elena speak again – "You're from here?"

I nod – "Yes."

"What happened next?" she lets the subject of Mystic Falls drop.

"I followed Damon to his home. An action I will regret for eternity." I drop my head even lower, guilt washing over me. "The archangels had been following me. I am guessing that they were keeping tabs on me all along, in case I should have a meeting with my brother." I try to fix my breathing, but the air seems to escape from me.

"The archangels, they killed Katherine, because they thought it'd teach other angels a lesson." I hear her screams in my head. "And cast Damon out of heaven." I can see my brother's face when he realized the love of his life is gone.

There's a long silence between us, only the sound of our breathing echoing through the room. Living through all of these memories has been harder than I thought. And Elena's still silent. Too silent.

"What happens when an angel falls?" she whispers, barely audible.

"I am not entirely sure about that." I remember what Damon said to me in the crypt. "All I know is that they lose everything that was ever good about them. Only the bad side, the evil side remains." I close my eyes, the truth about my brother is too much to handle right now. How much of him has remained? How much of the old Damon I loved so dearly, is still in there, somewhere?

"Stefan..." Elena speaks gently, "Look at me."

I slowly open my eyes and look at her beautiful face. I can see the trails that tears have left on her cheeks. I hate to see her cry. It makes me feel so helpless.

"Stefan, it's okay." She places her arm around my shoulder, "It's not your fault." It's like she read my mind and knew exactly what I was thinking.

I don't say anything, only shake my head a little. It will always be my fault. I created this mess.

"Listen to me, Stefan. You didn't know. You had no way of knowing what would happen." Her voice is stern, yet soothing.

"Elena... I can't."

"Yes you can. And you will." Her lips are so close to my ear, making me believe that maybe I will find a way to fix everything.

I turn my head a little to meet her eyes. "He's after you." I say.

Elena smiles a little, which is odd. "Yeah, I was guessing that would be the case."

"I have to keep you safe," it's a promise I made to myself and now I am making it to her.

"I know. You have kept me safe so far, I am sure you'll do it again," she leans her head on my shoulder. We stay like this for a long while. Not saying anything. Just being with each other, and it feels amazing.

Although I know the danger I am putting her into, I can't bring myself to regret this. And it seems to me that neither does she.

* * *

**In my opinion, Stefan and Elena both understand on an unconscious level that they have feelings for each other, but somehow they're both afraid to say it out loud. Stefan's still in quite perplexed of why Elena would want to be close to him and vice versa. Hopefully, they'll soon be able to admit more than they're capable right now...**

**As I've gathered from your wonderful reviews, many of you can relate to Damon and understand his reasons for... well... revenge. Which is good, because my intention is not to make Damon to be the douchebag he is on the show, but to have his own reasons for doing certain things and his own motivation. I also love the brother's relationship, so I'm hoping to explore that too. And who knows, maybe Damon isn't as evil as he supposedly he is right now?  
**

**My deepest thank yous to all of you who have reviewed, favourited, followed this story! It means so much to me, thank you! You guys are great! :)  
**


	12. Come morning light

**All grammar/spelling mistakes are mine!**

* * *

**Elena**

We've been sitting in my room for almost two hours now. What he told me – the story about him and his brother Damon, it is still killing me. It's like I could feel everything he felt when he told what had happened. Every ounce of pain, the guilt he is feeling right now. It courses through me and all I want is for it to stop. I want it to stop for Stefan, I wish I could take it all away from him, lock it away and throw the key away for eternity.

When he started his tale, I could see how reluctant he was to talk about it, how he didn't want me to see him like this, like I wouldn't understand. But I do. I can see more clear now, I can see him better, it's like I can feel him better. It's strange to say that I can feel him, but so it is. He is the closest to heaven I'll ever be. I have known Stefan for such a short time, but to already feel that much towards him...I don't know if I am able to give a name to those feelings, maybe just not yet.

It is still hard for me to acknowledge that someone is after me. That someone being Damon – Stefan's brother, a fallen angel. I have been sucked into this supernatural world so suddenly and it's hard to grasp everything, perhaps that's why I am still so eerily calm. I should be freaking out, I should be terrified, waiting for someone to jump out from a dark corner and attack me. Instead I feel safe, like nothing could touch me right now. Maybe I am in shock? Maybe I will wake up tomorrow and it will all hit me like a ton of bricks, and then what? I run? With Stefan? Like Damon and Katherine did? I can't do that. I have Jeremy, I can't just leave him to be alone, in harm's way.

"Elena," he whispers, my head is still on his shoulder and he brushes a strand of hair from my face. "We can't stay here." He breaks the silence and with that my strand of thought. My head snaps up and I look at him sharply.

"Why not?" But I already know the answer.

"It won't be long until he finds where you live." Stefan can't even say his name anymore.

"I won't go anywhere." I persist, not willing to let this go.

"You won't be safe here."

"I know that." I respond simply, "But I can't leave Jeremy. He is my brother." I emphasize the word brother and Stefan's face immediately changes. He lowers his head, eyes glued to the ground.

"If he comes here, I don't know..."

"It's okay," I reassure him, "Nothing will happen to me." I smile a little, "Because you're here."

"You don't know that, Elena," he turns his head so now he is facing me again. "I have no idea what Damon can or cannot do." The worry is plain in his face and I have no idea how to make him see that I am not scared.

"Stefan, if I start to run..." I pause for a second, considering my next words. "Then it will never stop. I will never stop escaping from danger. And I can't live like that, this is not me. And if I did run, who says that Damon won't use Jeremy against me?"

I grab Stefan's hand as I had before, giving it a gentle squeeze, feeling his skin next to mine. He looks at me, his green eyes sparkling. "I need you to put your faith in me, Stefan." He nods, although I can still see that he is not agreeing with me. "This is my choice. I won't run."

"I know." Stefan states simply. I wonder what's going on in his head. He is always so mysterious. "I would never force you do to something you didn't want." And with that last sentence I can't help to smile wide – "Thank you."

Stefan smiles back and it's breathtaking – "Has anyone ever told you how stubborn you are?" he asks.

"Several times." I laugh, my mother always used to say that I inherited my stubbornness from my father.

I look at the window and notice a reddish glow looming in the distance. The sun must be rising. "Oh, how long have we been sitting here?"

Stefan glances at the clock on the wall – "For almost three hours now. Elena, you should get some rest."

I suddenly feel every muscle in my body screaming at me, telling me that I should sleep.

"Will you stay with me?" I ask Stefan, blurting my thoughts out before I could consider the meaning of them. "No, I mean, not in that way..." I start to ramble, feeling the blood rushing to my face.

Stefan just looks at me, amusement in his eyes – "I'll be here, don't worry."

I give him a weak smile, trying to hide my embarrassment. I stand up, letting go of his hands, and he stands up too. He stares at me intently, his gaze so intense that I start to feel slightly uncomfortable.

"What?" I finally ask, not able to take it anymore. It seems to snap him back to reality. His eyes move to my lips then to my eyes. Stefan takes a step towards me, closing the distance between us. He presses his lips to my forehead, to my utter surprise and also disappointment. Because I find myself wishing that those lips were pressed against my own lips. I close my eyes, taking a deep breath, savouring the moment, but when I open them again, he is not in the room anymore.

* * *

**Damon**

Finding Elena Gilbert's house was the easiest task ever. All it took was a giving a smile to the desk receptionist at the hospital and she was putty in my hands. Easy, like I said.

Did Stefan really think that I would expect them to sit there and wait for me? I just wanted to have a little fun, scare Stefan a little. No big deal. I know all the tricks that angels have so by the time I reached the girl's hospital room I wasn't really surprised that they were gone. So predictable.

My baby brother is still the same old brooding Stefan as I remembered. The guilt and the shame is a constant aura around him, but I could detect a change in him. It became especially prominent when I mentioned Elena, the hot brunette my bro is assigned to protect. I've been watching Stefan for a while now and I have never seen him so passionate about protecting a charge, so she must be something.

There is so much Stefan doesn't know about angels and one of those things is how to trace one and how to cover their tracks. I succeeded hiding myself and Katherine for a long time, until he came and destroyed everything. My entire life was wiped away in a single minute. Her screams haunt me every night and there is nothing I can do to stop it. Ever since that night I've roamed the world with only one purpose – destroy those who destroyed my life. And that, I shall do.

Elena Gilbert's house is one of those miserable suburban houses that all look the same. I wonder if Elena is as boring as is her house. Probably she is. I wouldn't be surprised.

As I approach the house, I take a quick glance at the watch on my wrist. 10 am. Perfect. That means that she's probably awake. I look behind me just to be certain that my baby bro isn't lurking somewhere near and when I see no one - just some neighbours walking their dogs, I take a step to the front porch, and ring the doorbell, waiting for someone to open the door.

I am no fool; I know that Stefan is constantly near Elena – that is what makes this game so exciting. I can hear footsteps nearing the door and to my disappointment it isn't Elena who's answering the door, but a young man. Never mind, this will make it even more fun, I give the young man a smirk before I ask - "Is Elena Gilbert home?"

* * *

**Jeremy**

I look at the man standing at my doorstep – dressed in all black. Even his hair is black. But what strikes out the most are his icy blue eyes, and they are definitely not friendly. I decide instantly that I don't like the man.

"Is Elena Gilbert home?" he asks, giving me an unpleasant smile. Who is he?

"No, Elena's not at home." I answer, wary. There's no way I am telling this man that she's currently in the hospital. That reminds me that I should get going, she's supposed to be discharged today.

"Really?" He drawls, arching an eyebrow and peeking over my shoulder.

"What did you say your name was?" I ask him, stepping out of the door frame, trying to cover the view with my body.

"I didn't say my name," he smirks again. "But then again, you didn't ask for it either."

I am annoyed by his attitude – "Look, man, I said that Elena's not here, so I am thinking that you should go."

"Look man," he mocks me, stabbing his finger at my chest – "You don't get to tell me what to do." He looks over my shoulder again, this time his grin getting even wider. "Well, look at this, who do we have here."

"Jeremy?" I hear my sister's voice behind me. I turn around and there she is, in flesh.

"Elena? What the...?" I am confused. "You're supposed to be in the hospital."

"Jeremy, I..." she stops, frowning, like she doesn't know what to say. "I'll explain later. What's going on?"

I turn back to face the stranger at my doorstep and his eyes are locked on Elena, sending chills all over my spine.

"This man here says he wants to see you." I say reluctantly, I'd rather get him away from my sister.

"Who?" Elena comes to stand next to me, her big brown eyes curious.

"I don't know, he won't say his name." I spit out, giving the man the evil eye.

Then he speaks up, suddenly being polite – "May I come in?"

I can see that Elena is clearly affected by this man, although I can't understand why.

"No." I stand in front of Elena and the man gives me an angry look.

"Jeremy," she protests behind me.

"I won't let him in our house until he tells his name," I persist.

"I am sorry for my brother," Elena speaks up, "But I think it would be better if you give us your name before we invite you in."

The man gives his irritating smirk again and I feel like wiping that smile off his face.

"My name is Damon Salvatore." He says.

* * *

**Elena**

I feel like someone just dropped a pool of ice cold water over me. My face drops and I can see that Damon understands that I know who he is, as his grin gets impossibly wide.

"Jeremy," I tug at his shirt, "Close the door, now." I urge him, pulling him inside.

"Now why would you do that?" Damon asks, taking a step forward, forcing us to retreat.

"What the hell?" Jeremy is visibly angry, but I know better than to provoke Stefan's brother.

"I think we should have a little chat," Damon says, taking another step into the house. Now there's almost no way to get him out of here.

I start to panic; I have no idea what to do. Stefan. Where is he?

Jeremy raises his voice – "You, Damon, whatever your name is, get out. Now."

"Jeremy, don't," the fear for my brother is starting to suffocate me.

"Aren't you cute, trying to be the man of the house," Damon leers and then puts a finger on Jeremy's forehead, causing him to collapse on the floor.

"NO!" I shout, kneeling down next to my brother, tears streaming from my eyes, "Jeremy, wake up, please wake up." I shake him frantically, but he doesn't react.

"Relax, he's not dead," Damon rolls his eyes. He was just annoying me.

"How could you?" I look into his eyes, so different from Stefan's – they're so cold, so devoid of emotions, empty.

"Because I can," he answers, shrugging his shoulders, "Now where's my baby bro? What's taking him so long?"

Stefan. He should be here by now. He promised to protect me, and yet he isn't here.

"Well isn't that a surprise." Damon laughs, "And I thought that you're the most important thing to him. Guess I was wrong." He leans against the wall, looking at me. "Call him" he tells me suddenly.

"What?" I don't understand.

"Call. Him." His voice is icy, menacing.

"How?"

"Ugh, what's so difficult to understand? Say his name, for crying out loud!"

I flinch at the tone of his voice, it sounds like he's about to attack me. "S-s-stefan?" I stutter out nervously, all the while cradling my brother's head in my lap, he still isn't moving, although I can see the faint rise of his chest, indicating that he is alive.

"You have to do better than that, Elena." His eyes are shooting daggers at me.

"Stefan?" I call out more confidently, praying that he could hear me. Still, nothing happens.

"For fuck's sake!" Damon shouts, hitting the nearby end-table, knocking it over, the vase on it shattering into pieces. "Stefan, I know you can't hear me, but if you don't appear right now, I am going to hurt your precious Elena here." There's so much anger and violence in his voice, I have never seen a person so volatile.

I hold onto Jeremy tighter, thinking to myself – _Stefan, please, if you can hear or sense me, please I need you. I don't know what's keeping you, but please, come._

Damon's still pacing around, impatiently. I wonder why he hasn't killed me already. That's what he wants, isn't it?

I close my eyes for a second, trying to calm myself, when I feel someone's hand touching my arm, I open my eyes and I see Stefan crouching next to me. His eyes are so sad, so guilty, apologizing. "I am sorry," he whispers to me.

"Damon," he calls out, standing up.

"Stefan," the older brother smirks, "What took you so long?"

* * *

**Why Stefan was absent, will be explained in the next chapter!**

**Some of you were wondering why Elena was so calm about the fact that Damon is after her. The main reason for that is she haven't had the time to acknowledge herself the situation she's in now. Everything has happened so quickly that there hasn't been time for her to completely register what's happening. Eventually, it will all hit her.**

**Another thing is that I am taking my time with Stelena, as you can see. I don't want them to rush into things, especially with everything that's going on around them. And maybe it is my personal preference also, that I don't like too fast paced development.**

**Anyhow, thank you so so much for your reviews, they mean A LOT to me. If you have any questions, shoot. :) You can also ask me questions on twitter at hey_stef and on tumblr at heystefan. **

**Until next time! :)**


	13. Playing Games

**Stefan**

Sometimes it is only a second that can change the course of everything. With a flick of a finger can all you once loved turn into dust and only leave you with the bitter aftertaste, with guilt and with the question – what if? What if I had turned up a minute earlier? What if I hadn't decided to close my eyes just for a second? What if? I should know, because I have lived with these questions for a big part of my existence. Everything I do is driven by my inner machine that tells me that I always have to do the right thing, because the past has taught me that it is never good to listen to your heart. It never leads to nothing good. You only get burned, or even worse, your heart will be ripped out of your chest and all you will be left is a gaping hole and the knowledge that there's nothing you can do to fix it. If it's a battle between your brain and heart, you should always let the brain prevail; at least that is what I've been telling myself for almost two hundred years, because you never know when your heart may betray you.

But this is not the time for second guessing. Had I been a minute earlier, who knows what would have happened. Damon was at the edge of a cliff, and if he had dove down into the stormy waters... I don't even want to think of it.

There aren't enough words to describe how sorry I am for not being there earlier, the hurt in Elena's eyes, the accusation, it was almost too much to handle. A single "I am sorry" will never be enough.

I didn't arrive here deliberately late, I wanted to come as soon as I felt Elena's distress, but I wasn't able to. And there's a pretty good reason for that.

* * *

**Earlier**

_I left Elena's room to give her some privacy, to let her sleep. I wasn't planning to keep her entirely alone, though; my intention was to keep a close eye on the perimeter of the house, in case my brother should appear. But there were complications with that plan. As soon as I exited the room I was drawn out of this realm. I found myself in a familiar place – heaven. A place I should call home, but ever since Damon and Katherine, all I feel is disgust towards this place, so I try to avoid it as much as possible. Its brightness blinded me for a second, and I couldn't make anything out, as to where I was exactly._

"_Stefan, old friend." I was greeted by Niklaus' familiar voice. Great, I was in Klaus' office._

"_Niklaus." I stated, trying to keep my face calm, not to show my inner turmoil, how much I wanted to return to Elena._

"_Aren't we pass that, Stefan? You can call me Klaus." he took a step closer and patted my shoulder. His voice was friendly enough, but I could detect a glint of anger in his eyes. Something was clearly wrong. I felt shivers running down my spine as I considered the options._

"_Right. Klaus." I managed to choke out, wincing, too disturbed by what he could be wanting. "Why am I here?"_

"_No reason. I just wanted to see my friend. Haven't seen you up here for a very long time."_

_Friend? I have never been friends with Klaus, what kind of a crazy notion does he have in mind?_

"_Okay, you saw me, now can I go?" I tried, hoping too much. I knew that he wouldn't let me go so easily. Clearly, I wasn't there just for him to see me._

_Klaus made a circle around me, examining me. I tried to seem nonchalant._

"_Why? He asked. "What could be more important than meeting your boss?" Now he had a clear edge to his voice. "Besides, I don't think you need to worry about your charge right now, as I recall, it's quite early in the morning for the humans, so she's probably sound asleep."_

_I knew that, but what bothered me is that I didn't know how long this was going to take, and time here moves in different ways up here. Ten minutes in heaven could mean four hours down the earth._

"_I like to keep a close eye on my humans." I reasoned, knowing that it probably won't help._

"_So I've seen throughout the years, yes. You have a magnificent track record of keeping your charges alive." Why did I feel like he was hinting at something?_

"_I am just doing my job." _

"_Indeed."_

_I was getting tired of this game he was playing. Why wasn't he getting to the point? I was sure at that moment that I wasn't there just to amuse him. _

_I brushed my hand through my hair, agitated – "Klaus, just get to the point." I was tired and nervous and I did know that I may have addressed him in a wrong way; it was dangerous to speak to him like that, knowing how easily he could snap._

"_Very well then." His tone was icy. I definitely had offended him. "First, I want to know something."_

"_Yeah, whatever you want to know." I realized that I had to control my tongue more._

"_You do remember what happened to Damon? And to the lovely wife of his? What was her name?"_

"_Katherine." I almost felt the bile rising to my throat, this was definitely heading to the wrong direction._

"_I take you as an honourable man, Stefan. Always doing the right thing, isn't that so?"_

"_I try." I responded dryly._

"_Stefan, you're so tense, ease up." His voice was so close to my ear that I jumped a little from the surprise._

"_I just don't get what you're getting at, Klaus." I told him, looking him straight to the face which betrayed no emotion._

"_Ah. It'd be better if I just get to the matter then, right?" He made a circle around me. "You see, I have heard some troubling news about you and your lovely charge."_

_I could swear that at that moment my heart stopped beating. I clenched my fists into balls beside me, waiting for him to continue._

"_From what I've gathered, things have been getting too personal between you and the human. Do I need to remind you of the rules, Stefan?" Klaus' eyes glimmered with anger._

"_No." and that was when I felt it. Elena. Something was happening right now and I couldn't get to her, not without making matters even more complicated._

"_Good. Still, I think it would be wise to go through them once again." Klaus smirked, clearly he had some other agenda as well._

"_I know the rules very well." I wanted to get out of here, to get to Elena. I could hear her voice in my head as she was calling me, asking for my help. I was suffocating, I needed to go. Now._

"_Take this as an advance warning, Stefan." Klaus' voice cut through my own thoughts, I raised my head to look into his eyes, and they were malicious. "Do not cross the line, or you will suffer from the consequences, you and your human. Do you understand me?"_

_I nodded weakly, hoping that he will let me go._

"_Do not disappoint me, Stefan." Klaus said and then I found myself in Elena's house again, where I saw her cradling Jeremy in her lap and Damon breaking the furniture. "I am sorry." I whisper to Elena before turning to Damon._

"_Damon." I call out, catching his attention. _

_He turns around and gives his signature smirk – "Stefan, what took you so long?"_

* * *

"Damon, let's take this outside," I opt to reasoning, "There's no need to pull Elena into this, clearly this thing here is between me and you."

He raises his eyebrows, eyes darting between me and Elena, his face something between being amused and angry. His face has always been easy to read, and it is clear to me that he isn't even considering my words.

"Why would I do that, Stef?" he asks, taking a step forward. I step in front of Elena, shielding her. "Ooh, defensive much?" he teases.

"Just stop, please." I have no idea how to get through to him and I don't know what he is planning to do.

"But this is so much fun! Here we all are, my brother, who basically betrayed me because I dared to love and now he is in the same situation." He throws his hands up in the air, gesturing wildly and I can't help but to feel utterly wounded by his words. "Why would I let Elena here miss out on the game?"

I have had enough of games for today. First Klaus and then my brother.

"Stefan," Elena's weak voice sounds behind me, I turn around to see her tear-streaked face. I try to give her a reassuring smile, but it comes out more like a grimace. "It's okay, I promise."

Damon watches our exchange, and I could swear I saw something else besides resentment and malice flickering in his eyes, but I can't be sure. Then he speaks up again – "Let us all go the living room, to have a nice little chat, shall we?" now his eyes are shooting daggers at me and the tone of his voice is condescending.

"I am not leaving Jeremy." Elena says, gripping onto his brother even tighter.

"Seriously?" Damon calls out, his hand flinching like he wants to punch something, I can see how much he struggles to keep himself in control. "Stefan, tell your girlfriend to listen to the big bad brother here." he turns to me. I glare at Damon, but he just nods his head at me and waves his hand at Elena. I let out a big sigh and kneel beside Elena. Fresh tears have started to fall from her eyes.

With a flick of my finger I catch one tear from her cheek, but another one starts to fall again. I hate myself so much at that moment, I could've come sooner; sent Klaus to hell and been here in the right time. But I didn't, and now she's desperately holding onto her brother, crying her eyes out. I wish I just could take all the pain away from her.

I put my lips close to Elena's ear and whisper - "Elena, please. You have to trust me. Just listen to my voice and try to concentrate." She takes her head away from mine and looks me straight into eyes, but she doesn't say anything. Then I hear Damon's annoyance behind me – "You know I can hear you, Stef."

"Just shut up, Damon," I snap back, irritated and then turn back to Elena. I can see that the stream of tears has at least stopped.

"Jeremy..." she whimpers, stroking his head.

"I know, but he is alive, that's the important thing. Elena, we have to do what Damon wants right now, I'll keep you and your brother safe, that I can promise, but now, just now, please, come with me." I offer her my hand which she takes hesitantly and I pull her on her feet. I look at Jeremy lying there and then at Elena, and I realize that I can't leave him just to lie here on the floor. I can also hear Damon tapping his foot against the floor; he's getting impatient.

"I'll take Jeremy upstairs." Elena looks up at me, her eyes are big and I can finally see a small smile on her lips, it's not a happy one, but nevertheless I can see that she's beginning to calm down a little. "Thank you." She mouths.

"C'mon, Stefan!" Damon's angry voice sounds in my ears, "Now you're playing the hero suddenly?"

I say nothing back to him, knowing that there's nothing that I _can _say that would please Damon.

I scoop Jeremy up, shot Elena a glance and then I warn Damon – "If you lay a finger on her..."

The corner of Damon's mouth rises up in a smirk – "Jeez, if I wanted to harm your pretty girl here, I would have already done it," he raises his hands up in defeat.

In a flash I am in and out from Jeremy's room. I put him on his bed, hopefully he will recover soon.

Damon and Elena have already taken a seat in the Gilbert living room, facing each other. Damon is wearing a lazy smirk and Elena eyes are so angry that if looks could kill, Damon would be dead in an instant.

"Oh, goody," Damon states, his eyes never leaving Elena's face, "Now we can begin."

"Begin what exactly?" I ask him, taking a seat next to Elena.

"Our little chat, what else?" he reaches to the back pocket of his jeans and pulls out a smeared sheet of paper, folded several times and then slaps it onto the table.

"What's this?" Elena enquires, taking the paper in her hands, and starts to unfold it. I can see how her hands are shaking, she's still upset, probably afraid, but she's trying to put on a brave face.

"Read it." Damon commands, leaning himself back, a smug look on his face.

Elena examines the paper for a second, then hands it to me – "Stefan, you take it," I take the paper and notice how rough it feels, I am guessing the paper isn't exactly from this century.

I look at Damon suspiciously, I don't understand this at all; what is he doing? I thought that all he had in mind was to get his revenge on me, but this, this behaviour of his, is strange.

"Go on." He flicks his finger at me.

I clear my throat and let my eyes wander over the ragged page; at first it doesn't make sense at all.

"What is this?" I ask, furrowing my brows. Damon just shrugs his shoulders, clearly pleased with himself.

"You can read that?" Elena suddenly asks, "Because it's all gibberish to me." She scoots closer to me, our sides touching and I can feel the familiar current flow through my body.

"It's in Enochian, the angel language." I look at Damon again, oh yeah, he is _very _pleased with himself.

"The Angel language?" she says through a small laugh. "I should've guessed."

"Yes. And Damon here isn't supposed to have this."

"What can I say, I am a man of many wonders." he smiles even more widely, his blue eyes sparkling.

"What does it say?" Elena asks, pressing her body closer to mine, letting her fingers touch the paper.

_One fallen shall be the redemption of the other._

_One soul shall set free what once was imprisoned._

_Three human souls will find salvation,_

_Two will flourish,_

_One will perish._

When I finish with the last word, an eerie silence falls over us. It feels like the air got chillier in a second. Elena grabs hold of my arm, gripping it tightly. Even Damon's face has lost its gleefulness.

"Damon..." I begin, wary, "What's the meaning of all of this?"

His face adapts his usual expression again – "That, baby bro, is a prophecy taken from heaven."

* * *

**I actually know nothing about angel language, all my knowledge comes from Supernatural and Wikipedia lol**

**I just wanted to send a big hug to everyone who is reading this story! I know that I am not the fastest updater and I know that my chapters aren't especially long either, but you guys still keep reading this and everything you've said has encouraged me to continue with this, because, to be honest, I am really really insecure about this story. But you guys make it all worth it! So I can't thank you enough! :)**


	14. Never let me go

**Stefan**

"Damon, what have you done?" I shout at his face, almost standing up, ready to attack him, but Elena stops me at the last second, restraining me.

"Wait, Stefan, let's hear him out." She grabs my hand, holding me in place.

"Yeah, Stefan, hear me out," Damon smirks, clearly amused at my reaction.

"You'd better have a _very _good reason for owning this." I throw the paper on the table, all the while glaring at Damon, I am still angry, how can he be so stupid?

"Let's just say that you're not the only one I want revenge on, Stefan," Damon says and I can feel Elena stiffening beside me when he mentions revenge.

"Revenge?" I scoff, "Everything all boils down to revenge with you, right?"

"I have every reason to want it; do I need to remind you what happened, and your part in it?" Damon's voice is icy and menacing, his face has lost its previous glee.

"It was not Stefan's fault," I hear Elena say beside me, before I could stop her. Damon's head snaps at her direction, surprise clear on his features.

"And how was it not his fault, do tell me?"

I close my eyes, wishing nothing but to get away from here, to get Elena away from Damon. Katherine is and will always be a sore spot for him and I don't know how much he can be pushed without making him snap.

"He didn't know. How could he have known that those archangels were following him? You can't blame him for wanting to see his brother, his only family. You were the one who caused all the problems. You and nobody else. It is not fair to put all the blame on Stefan while you are the one responsible for putting Katherine through danger and making her run. I am sure that they would've found you without Stefan's help or not. It was only a matter of time." She gets it all out in one breath, defiance in her voice, all the while keeping eye contact with Damon, letting him know that he won't have power over her.

I take a deep breath while I listen to Elena's words. Isn't that what I am doing with her? Putting her into danger for my own selfish reasons? Because I don't have the restraint to keep myself away from her, to keep distance.

I direct my gaze at Damon who is still silent, watching Elena, studying her face. I can see how he tries his hardest not to be affected by her words, but it is evident that she had hit a spot. I know that Damon would never confess to it, that she might have been right in way, but seeing the flicker of truth dawning on him makes me feel better. I will always blame myself partly for what happened, it will never change, but thanks to Elena, I have come to realize that just maybe I am not to blame wholly for it.

After the uncomfortable silence between the three of us, Damon finally relaxes, taking me by surprise, I expected him to lash out, I was prepared for it.

"You've got a firecracker here, Stefan. Can't say I don't like it." He wiggles his eyebrows towards Elena, but she looks at him with disgust.

"Enough of this already," I declare, deciding it's time to get to the matter on hands. "Damon." I turn to my brother. "Now would be a very good time for some explanations."

He leans back on the sofa, crossing his hands behind his head – "It's all very simple." He smiles deviously. "With this we will bring down angels." He points his finger at the paper.

I almost choke, he has lost his mind. I open my mouth to object, but Elena beats me to the punch

"We?" she asks incredulously.

"Yep. You, Stefan and me." He says like it's all crystal-clear.

"Are you insane?" I manage to get out, shooting daggers at him with my eyes.

"No, I am completely sane here, Stefan. Don't you see? Don't you remember when we tried to get to know more about this human-turned-angels thing? How everyone was so reluctant to give us answers? Well, I acquired the answers. Here, on that paper."

"But how do you know it's about… us?" Elena asks, interest sparkling in her eyes.

"Yeah, that's the thing, this is only a part of the prophecy. This was the only part I managed to fetch. And I might have an ally up there, who knows more of it." he points his finger upwards.

"Stop avoiding the subject, Damon." I am getting very agitated here. Elena feels it too, as she squeezes my hand in a reassuring way.

"Stef, calm down," he shrugs, "take it easy. You're acting like I am about to start murdering everyone." He grins.

"I am tired of your efforts to evade the subject. Just spill it out."

"Fine," his face takes back the serious expression. "Three humans – You me and Elena." He looks me in the face and then at Elena, watching our reactions. He opens his mouth to continue, but Elena interferes again.

"You and Stefan are not human."

"Aren't you a bright one." Damon grimaces, annoyed. "Correction – Stefan and I were human. It is just a matter of interpretation. And you, Elena," he drawls out her name, "There's a part of the prophecy that I couldn't get my hands on, but it made it pretty clear that it's a woman, there was more, but for now I am keeping it to myself."

"Why?" Elena shoots back, "If you want to draw us into all of this," she glances at me, giving me a small smile, "Then you should tell us everything that you know."

"It's called leverage. There's no way I am spilling all my secrets to you." Elena glares at him, but I am not surprised, Damon has always acted this way, keeping something to himself, so he could use it later for his own benefit.

"Who are the fallen ones?" I ask, not wanting to dwell on who's keeping secrets and who is not, no longer.

He raises his eyebrows – "Really, Stefan, you don't get it? I am ashamed." He mocks me.

"Would you just…" I begin, but then it dawns on me – "It's you. One of the fallen is you. Of course." I nearly roll my eyes.

"See, now that wasn't that hard, was it?" Damon stands up and walks over to the window. He peeks through the curtains as if he is waiting something to happen.

"Who's the other fallen?" Elena asks suddenly.

"What?" Damon turns to look at her, confusion on his face.

"_One fallen shall be the redemption of the other." _She recites, "Who is the other fallen?"

Damon shrugs his shoulders – "I don't know, some poor bloke who has fallen, I don't care."

"You should." Elena speaks up again, "You're supposed to be the redemption of the fallen."

"We will get to that when the time is right," he squints his icy eyes, not wanting to linger on that anymore.

"I don't understand." I state, I have a feeling that Damon has left a very important piece of information out.

Damon, still standing by the window, groans – "What is so hard to understand?"

"You're leaving something out." I voice my suspicion.

"I am telling you everything on a _need to know basis._"

"If you want us to be a part of this ridiculous plan you're hatching, then you shouldn't be so scarce with information," I tell him, but he doesn't react to anything I say.

"Baby bro, the thing is that you two already are a part of this plan of mine, things have already been set in motion."

"What things?" I stand up from the couch, breaking contact with Elena. I walk over to Damon, ready to do something, I don't even know what.

"Relax, Stefan, you're so tense." He teases on purpose, trying to get me even more worked up.

"How can I?" I ask, "When you just appear in my life after a _very _long time, threaten me and Elena, then show up at her doorstep and want us to be a part of something you won't even explain!" I throw my hands up in the air in frustration.

"Stefan," a soft voice rings next to me, Elena puts her hand on my arm, I had gotten so worked up that I didn't even notice that she had also stood up, "He is not worth it." she shoots a deadly glare at Damon. I instantly calm down, when I feel her touch on my skin.

"Damon, I think you should go now." Elena says, authority in her voice.

"Why should I do that?" he responds, "I thought you wanted to know more." His lips curve into a smile

"I think it's clear that getting answers out of you is near impossible. Just go."

"You're feisty, Elena. That's good." He gives her a small smile and then peeks out of the window again, nods at something and then turns to leave.

"This was fun, we should do this again." He laughs, "Stefan," he nods at me, "Elena. See you soon." He wiggles his fingers goodbye and then disappears.

I take two long strides and look out of the window, but I see nothing. I wonder why Damon was suddenly in such a hurry to leave, I don't believe that he left because Elena told him so.

I turn to Elena – "Elena, I am so sorry." I never wanted this for her, never in my wildest dreams had I thought something like this could happen.

"It's okay, Stefan," she tells me, but I can see that her brave façade is crumbling down.

"No it's not," I walk over to her and pull her into a hug. She immediately melts into me, holding onto me as strong as possible as she silently sobs in my arms. "Elena, I promise I won't let anything to happen to you. I promise."

She doesn't say anything for a while we just stand there; holding each other. I am so irrationally angry at myself, at Damon. I think back to all those things I have said and done, making promises and then breaking them. How many times have I said to Elena that I will keep her safe? And how many times have I failed her? The thought that something could happen to Elena because of my choices, because I was too weak to stay away from her, it is almost crippling. This time, I swear that I will do anything in my power to shield her, I won't, I can't let anything happen to her. It would destroy me. Even if keeping Elena safe meant defying Klaus, even if it meant sacrificing my life, it would all be worth it. She would be worth it. There is no way that I could stay away from her now.

"Jeremy." She gasps, looking up, at me. Her eyes are full of panic, worry about her brother rising to the surface again.

"Jeremy will be alright." I assure her, "He will be waking up soon." I can already hear his breathing changing upstairs.

Elena visibly relaxes in my arms, "What am I going to tell him?"

"Whatever you want to." I say to her, "It's your choice."

"I can't lie to him," she breathes, her eyes are wandering all over the room, like she's looking for answers.

"Then don't," I respond. I am aware that telling Jeremy would complicate the situation even further, but in this, I agree with Elena, lying to Jeremy could in time be even worse.

She doesn't respond, but I can feel how she her thoughts are working on full speed, trying to conjure up a solution.

"Elena..."

"Yes?"

"We should sit down, you're shaking like a leaf."

Her eyes are puzzled, then she reaches out one arm and I can see how her fingers are trembling – "Oh..." she exhales. I lead her towards the couch and make her sit down. She pulls her knees close to her body, looking straight ahead. I take a seat on the couch across her.

"Stefan," she whispers, "Where were you?"

I inhale, playing back the meeting with Klaus in my head. I guess there's no harm in telling her, after all I have decided that I won't let her go.

"One of the archangels, Klaus, summoned me to heaven." I say, waiting for her next question.

Her eyes snap up from the ground, locking with mine – "Why?"

"To warn me. They have noticed that I've been getting too close to you." His words play again over and over again in my head – _"Do not cross the line, or you will suffer from the consequences, you and your human. Do not cross the line, do not..."_

"What are you going to do?" she wonders, her big brown eyes full of fear for my answer.

"I won't leave you." I say simply, the truth of my words finally settling over me. It's decided.

Elena nods to herself, a small smile playing on her lips. "Stefan, what Damon just told us..."

"We don't know if what Damon told us was truth or not, he could've just made everything up simply to toy with us." Although I know that's not true, there's no way that Damon forged that piece of prophecy that's now lying on the table like some bad omen. It looks to real, and it _feels _too real.

"But what if everything he told us was the truth?" She asks, "What are we supposed to do?"

"I guess we will have to see what life has in store for us, there's really nothing else we could do but wait."

"Could you read the prophecy out loud for me once again?" Elena then requests.

"Sure," grimacing, I take the wretched paper off the table and fold it open.

_One fallen shall be the redemption of the other._ _One soul shall set free what once was imprisoned._ _Three human souls will find salvation, two will flourish,_ _one will perish._

When I finish I look up to see Elena's brow furrowed and her face deep in thought. She doesn't say anything for a while and I decide it best not to disturb her.

"I don't understand," she finally speaks up again. "Who is the one who will set free what once was imprisoned? What was imprisoned?"

"Damon left a lot out," I admit, "I truly have no idea. To be completely honest, this is the first time I have ever heard that there are any kinds of prophecies in heaven. Where Damon got this info – I don't know." I shake my head.

"And what did he mean by us being the three human souls finding salvation?" Elena is almost talking to herself now, "What do we need salvaging from? I just don't understand," she keeps repeating it over and over again.

"Elena..." I stand up from and sit down next to her; I touch her shoulder gently, snapping her out of her trans-like state.

"Don't think of it right now," I say to her, "It will only make your head hurt." I give her a what is supposed to be a reassuring smile, but I am quite sure it turned out to be more of a grimace.

She laugh nervously, shuddering under my touch. She leans her head on my shoulder, closing her eyes. We are content sitting like this for a while.

"Stefan?" she mumbles after some time.

"Yes?"

"Have you ever wanted something so bad, it literally hurts when you think of it?"

I think about it for minute – "Yeah. I have. Why the sudden topic change?"

"No reason." She smiles lightly, not opening her eyes. "I just wanted to know."

"Well, you got your answer."

"What did you do to stop it from hurting?" she asks me.

I am instantly flooded by memories of my childhood in Italy, when all I ever wanted was to have a puppy, but father forbade it. Then one day when I was walking on the market with my mother I saw an elderly woman with three small puppies – she was giving them away. I begged my mother to get one, but she told me that father wouldn't like it, so we just walked pass them. But when we got home, I told Damon about the puppies and together we sneaked out to the market and brought all three of them home. Father was of course furious, but eventually he let us keep them.

"I just went for it," I say, smiling at the memory.

Elena opens her eyes and leans back to look at me. I look at her and notice that something in her eyes has changed, they are sparkling like diamonds and I can swear that her heart is going to jump out of her chest at the crazy rate it's now beating.

"So what is it you want so badly?" I wonder, curious.

"This." She murmurs and leans forward, pressing her lips against mine. I am completely taken aback by her sudden action, I didn't see it coming.

Elena's lips taste like every heavenly thing in this world, it's indescribable. She presses her body closer to mine, tangling her hands in my hair and I respond by putting my hands on her waist, holding her strongly. I can feel every part of my body being over flown with the amazing current that flows through both of us. Her breath, her scent, her whole being is unimaginably beautiful. Her lips fit mine like a glove, perfect for each other, I wonder if hers were made to fit mine. I feel like I am drowning, but not in a bad way, I feel like I am finally home – here with her.

She breaks away from the kiss, breathing heavily, she leans her forehead on mine, locking her eyes with mine.

She whispers – "Never let me go."

"Never." I breathe.

* * *

**Guys, I can't thank you enough still for the reviews and all the support. Sometimes I have to pinch myself to make sure this isn't a dream lol!**

**I hope you liked this chapter and we'll meet again the next time ;)**


	15. Promises and Prophecies

**Hello! Here's the newest chapter! :)**

* * *

**Elena**

Sometimes life surprises you, in way you never expect. You can make up the most unimaginable scenarios in your head, make them crazy and impossible as you want, but they never compare to real life. Had anyone ever told me that life is going to get as insane as it is right now, I would've laughed in their face, telling them that they should stop using whatever they are using. And sometimes you surprise yourself too; some things make you act in a way you never thought you'd act and usually those impulses are worth it, for they are never worth regretting.

Those impulses led me to do what I did. I let my heart take control, and although my brain was screaming at me that if I take that step, then there's no turning back, my heart kept reminding me that this is what I want, no matter how much it may cost me in the long run. And when my lips touched his, all my doubts were erased and I knew how I had made the best decision, I also realized from that point on, what I wanted, or better, _who_ I wanted.

There is no way to describe comprehensively how his lips felt against mine, what I felt was pure bliss, I felt like I was home, I never wanted him to let go and it felt like something precious was taken away from me when I had to detach my lips from his. And I made him promise, I made him promise that he will never let me go. And he did.

This simple word – _never –_ made me understand that I can never let go of him either, no matter how much I wanted that, I would always come back to him, no matter what happens.

* * *

It has been two days since Damon paid us a visit, since I kissed Stefan. Even though we took a step forward, I still have no idea what Stefan and I are right now, things have gotten so complicated, that it is hard to define, to put a title to us. I don't want to think of him as my guardian angel, he is so much more than that, and I am hoping that I am more to him than a charge he has to protect, as well. I haven't had the courage to ask him more about that, what the future will bring to us, because I see how afraid he is of what might happen if he lets things go even further.

Jeremy woke up shortly after, he was confused and didn't remember much of what happened, but he did know that something was up. I told him everything, I figured that there's no point in hiding things from him, sooner or later he would have found out anyway. He had a hard time accepting the truth, and he hasn't said a word to me since then, but I can see that he is starting to wrap his mind around it. I know my brother; I know that eventually he will start trusting me, trusting Stefan.

Stefan has been staying with us the whole time, and not in the sense that he is just watching over me, but in his physical form. Things have been a little awkward between us and Jeremy giving him the evil eye every time he sees him hasn't been very helpful either.

We have been expecting Damon to show up again, but there has been no sign of him. Stefan has been on the edge the whole time, waiting for something to happen, I have tried to make things easier for him, but even if on the surface he seems fine, I know how on the inside he is fighting with someone, whether it is himself or someone else. Right now, my biggest wish is to know what is going on in his mind. I want, I _need_ to get through to him, to make him understand that not everything in this world don't need to be closed off to him, that there is something to live for. That he doesn't need to shut me off.

"Stefan?" I ask as I approach him, he is, as he has been doing for the past two days, looking out of the window in my living room, deep in thought.

He turns his head, and gives me a small smile, although there's no emotion behind it.

I take a deep breath, preparing myself mentally – "We need to talk." I stutter, nervous all of a sudden.

Stefan gives me a knowing look; he has probably waited for me to take up the subject.

"Sure," he sighs, stepping away from the window, wearing his poker face.

We sit down on the couch, him on the opposite one from me. Oh, how I wish he would be right next to me, why does he have to be so reluctant?

"So…" I begin, not sure where to start. "About what happened?" I look at him, hoping that he will continue, and he does.

"Elena, there's no need to worry, I won't let anything happen to you or Jeremy, I have said it multiple times and I intend to keep that promise." He speaks in a rush, his eyes wandering.

I blink, dumbfounded. Stefan is completely avoiding the real matter.

"It's not what I wanted to talk about…" I say hesitantly, my eyes never leaving Stefan, but his beautiful green eyes never meet mine.

"Oh…" he says and nothing else.

I feel my frustration building up; I have no idea why he is acting like this.

"The kiss…" I whisper, "I wanted to talk about that."

He buries his head into his hands, and then he combs his fingers through his hair, closing his eyes for a minute.

"Yeah..." he breathes. "About that..."

"Stefan, I don't understand." I can feel the sting of tears behind my eyes, but I force myself not to let them spill. "I don't understand _you_, I mean."

He finally looks up from his hands, locking his eyes with mine and I can finally see some emotion behind them, although it is hard to say what it is. Sadness? Regret? Or something else entirely?

"Elena, I… I just…" he stumbles, searching for the right words. He closes his eyes again – "There is no way to describe how important you are to me. I would do anything for you. I would die for you." Stefan opens his eyes and they pierce straight through me, making my heart beat rapidly.

"But I can't be selfish with you, Elena." The first tear starts to fall on my cheek, no matter how hard I try, I can't keep them at bay.

"Why?" My voice is barely audible.

Stefan's voice cracks, like he is in pain too – "Because no matter how bad I want to be with you, I know how it would end."

"You don't know that." I object. Is this really what he thinks? That history would repeat itself? That the archangels would come and kill me and make him fall? I realize that he is afraid, completely and utterly frightened - not for himself, but for me.

"I know enough to keep some limits."

"I don't want you to keep limits!" I cry out, frustrated. "Don't you see, Stefan?" I stand up and take a seat next to him, grabbing his hands, holding them firmly, savouring the touch of his skin against mine and warmth that I feel every time he is close to me. "It is not what I want." I say once again. "Besides, you promised me."

"That I would never let you go." He murmurs.

"Yes," I breathe, "And I want you to keep that promise."

"I will."

"Don't be afraid."

There is sadness in his green eyes – "I can't bear the thought of anything happening to you, especially because of me."

"I know that. That's I am going to make a promise of my own." I squeeze his hands – "I promise you, Stefan, nothing will happen to me."

Stefan smiles wistfully – "Don't make promises you might not be able to keep."

"I intend to keep this one, Stefan. Don't let your fears control you. I am completely aware of what happens when rules are being broken. But I choose this, I choose you. I don't want to live in regret in the future, thinking what if? What if I had taken that leap, what would have happened then? I don't want that, Stefan. I can't live with that." I blurt out, not meaning to get so worked up.

His eyes widen when he absorbs all what I said, in. I can see how it is hard for him to accept that maybe I want this; that this is not something that he gets to decide.

"Don't push me away, Stefan." I plead, hoping that he will listen to me. "Just take control. For this time, I need you to be selfish."

Stefan inhales, as he is pondering my words, but he doesn't say anything. The silence is driving me crazy.

"Say something, Stefan. Anything." I beg, not able to stand the quiet.

He turns his head, facing me. He looks me intently, searching for something and when he finds it he nods to himself, as he is confirming something. Then he takes me by surprise, closing the small distance between us and placing his lips firmly against mine, tangling his fingers in my hair. At that moment I feel like I am completely cut off from the world, there is no one else beside myself and him. I get lost into the sensations, so wonderful and amazing I never want them to end. I am brought back to reality when he detaches his lips from mine – "This is my answer." He smiles widely and I can't help myself but to throw my arms around him. Stefan responds by holding onto me even more tightly. "Thank you," I whisper into his ear, feeling for the first time after my parents' death complete happiness.

* * *

Another day passes, but this time the atmosphere in the house is completely different. Even Jeremy notices that when he comes downstairs to grab some dinner.

"Something is strange here," he says, squinting his eyes when he sees Stefan and I in the kitchen, both unable to wipe the silly smiles of our faces. We have been sitting here for quite some time now, just talking, getting to know each other more, and every moment I spend with him is like listening to my favourite song over and over again.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"You two look like lovesick puppies all of a sudden when earlier it was all doom and gloom around here." Jeremy responds and I almost choke, from the corner of my eye I can see Stefan too making a seriously uncomfortable face.

"I am happy, is that bad?"

"Of course not," Jeremy responds and grabs a bottle of coke from the fridge along with bunch of other stuff. He nods at me, glares at Stefan and then shuffles out of the kitchen, his hands full of food. "I'll be upstairs if anyone needs me." He yells when he is almost out of my sight.

I sigh audibly and shoot an apologizing look at Stefan – "I am so sorry for his behaviour."

"That's alright," he assures me, "He is your brother, he is supposed to be looking after you. Actually I am kind of surprised that he has accepted everything with such ease."

"Jeremy has a wild imagination, and I know that he loves all things supernatural. Who knows, maybe this has been a dream come true for him." I laugh.

Stefan looks at me with such an intense gaze that it makes me squirm a little.

"What?" I say when can't stand it anymore.

"Is it true? What you said earlier?" he asks, tilting his head slightly to the side.

"What do you mean?" I don't understand what he is aiming at.

"That you're happy."

I takes me only a fraction of second to respond – "Yes, I meant it."

"But with everything going around your life, the craziness that I basically brought with me?" I can again see his uncertainty surfacing.

"Stefan, I am happy after being miserable for a long time, and it is all because of you." I say truthfully, meaning every word.

"How can that be?" he asks, and I groan internally, why does he choose to be so blind?

"Because you made me feel like life was worth living again, that I am someone, that I am not just another lost soul, that maybe I have a bigger purpose in this life and that I am worth loving. Stefan, you basically brought me back to life. Before I met you, I didn't know what I was doing, I was stuck in a routine, doing the same thing over and over again and I thought that it would never end, that I was supposed to live my life like that; feeling empty, shallow, desperate. But when you came along… it was like someone turned on the light again, like someone saved me from drowning. Don't you see? You saved me. In every way possible."

I watch Stefan, waiting for his response, I can see all these different emotions in his features, especially in his eyes – incredulousness, amazement, confusion, but the one that settles there is happiness.

"You're happy…."he begins, "Because of me?"

I nod simply, grateful that I am finally starting to get through those walls he has built around him.

"Tell me, Stefan, what do you feel?" I am curious to know.

He hesitates, his eyes wary – "I…I feel like the puzzle that my life has always been, is finally complete." I can't help but smile at his words and that encourages him a bit, for he continues – "I have always tried to do what is right, follow the rules, never once stopping to think about what I really want. My whole life has been like that, confined in a small room, with the key thrown away. But I think that I have now found it." He looks me straight in the eye.

"Oh, really?" I tease, although my heart is ready to jump out of my chest at his words.

"Yeah. Elena, I have known you for a much longer time than you have known me…" he pauses, waiting for my reaction, but when he sees that I want him to continue, he speaks up again – "It never is the same, protecting your charge from a distance, never letting yourself be seen. But the night when I truly met you… I could feel something else, something that I've never allowed myself to feel before."

"What was that?"

"I can't explain that, it went beyond the need to protect you." he says, his lips curving into a small smile.

I don't answer him, but just resort to looking at him, studying his face, trying to memorize every little detail about him. He doesn't say anything either and so we sit there in the silence, both content just to be there.

Maybe it is an hour that has passed, maybe it is two hours but I suddenly feel completely worn out. I try to stifle a yawn, but I don't succeed in it.

"You look tired," Stefan comments, "Maybe you should go to bed."

"Yeah," I agree with him.

"C'mon let's get you to bed then," he stands up and offer me his hand, which I take gladly.

"Will you stay with me?" I ask, afraid of his answer.

"Do you want me to stay?"

"Yes."

"Then I will."

Nothing happens that night, I fall asleep in his arms, resting my head on his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat and just before I drift to sleep I can feel his lips on my forehead, kissing me good night.

* * *

I wake up the next morning to the loud banging on the front door. I can also feel Stefan stirring beside me.

"What's the time?" I ask groggily, not bothering to open my eyes.

"It's 7 am, stay here." He says, his voice is urgent and I can detect a hint of alarm in it.

"What's going on, Stefan?" I am suddenly very alert but when I open my eyes he is already gone.

I manage to get downstairs when I hear Damon's familiar voice – "Where's the lovely Elena?" he bellows as he barges in, pushing Stefan out of his way. He is again dressed in all black, but his icy blue eyes are a tad different from our previous meeting. It's like I could see something else than hate behind them.

"Damon," I croak, my voice still sleepy.

"Ah, here you are, glad that you're okay. You're doing a mighty fine job, baby bro." he turns to Stefan who is glaring at him, and gives him a wide smile.

"What are you doing?" Stefan asks, unable to hide his irritation. He closes the door behind him and walks up to his brother.

"Can't a man just visit his relatives?" Damon asks.

"With you it's never just a visit, Damon."

"You're right, Stef, you see right through me. It's time we have another chat." He finally reveals the reason why he's really here.

"Now?" I wonder out aloud.

He spins around to look at me – "Yes, now. It's urgent." He says and there's finality in his voice. He stalks away towards the living room again and when he realizes that we're not following he turns to stare both of us – "You're coming?" he asks, indicating to come after him.

I ran a hand through my hair, frustrated that this is happening again. Stefan is next to me in a flash, grabbing my hand, whispering – "Let's just hear him out, okay?"

I nod weakly and let him lead me into the living room where Damon has already taken a seat. His look immediately falls on our intertwined hands and I could swear that for a second there's a genuine smile on his lips, but it disappears as soon as it appeared.

"So where's the other annoying Gilbert?" he asks casually when Stefan and I sit down.

I send Damon an angry look – "You are not allowed to talk about Jeremy, after what you did." I am overwhelmed by the memory of Jeremy falling on the floor, lifeless, and I am suddenly grateful that Jeremy tends to sleep like a bear in hibernation. He probably won't wake up for another five hours.

"What do you want, Damon?" Stefan asks, not letting Damon to strike back at me. It works as his attention is drawn back to Stefan.

"I know about your little chat with Klaus." I can feel Stefan stiffening beside me when the words leave Damon's mouth.

"How?" he asks.

"Like I said, I have some connections from the inside." he says, smug.

"Who?" I ask, unable to keep my mouth shut.

"Nosy much?" Damon arches his eyebrows.

"Just stop already!" Stefan raises his voice which shuts us all up. "Damon, get to the point already, I am tired of your games."

"Fine." He pouts, "You're no fun. Rebekah. She has been my inside man. Woman."

Stefan's mouth basically drops, he stares at his brother incredulously. – "Are you kidding me?"

"Nope."

"Who is Rebekah?" I interject, from Stefan's reaction it seems that this Rebekah woman is someone of importance.

"Rebekah's the one who killed Katherine." Stefan spits out harshly.

I look at Damon like I am hit by a ton of bricks – "Is this for real?" I stammer.

Damon merely shrugs, like it's no big deal that he is working with the woman who killed the love of his life. "I needed someone from that side to work with, and she was the only one who was willing to do that." He explains.

"And is that supposed to make it right?" Stefan asks, his brow furrowed in anger.

"Oh, trust me, she'll get what she deserves, but right now I need her."

"You're insane, Damon. And you expect us to be okay with it?" I can see Stefan glance at me from the corner of his eye.

"I don't fucking care if you're okay with it or not," Damon's suddenly angry, his words dripping with venom, "The fact is that if you want to survive, you'd better do as I say!"

"Wait, what?" I am confused, "Survive?" My voice is unnaturally high.

Damon smirks evilly; his face indicating that he knows something we do not.

"Damon." Stefan warns, "Spill it. Now."

"Let's just say that the two of you are the gossip of the week up there." He pauses, waiting for us to say something but when he sees that we are not responding, his smile falters a bit, but he continues anyway. "I know about that little chat with Klaus, you had a few days ago, Stefan. You didn't leave him with a good impression and now he is basically devising a plan to take you down, but he wants to do it subtly, without drawing too much attention to it, because _that _could prove harmful to him."

I can see Damon's mouth moving and I can even hear the words, but I can't understand what he is saying. My ears are ringing and I can feel the bile rising to my throat, I almost feel faint. Stefan squeezes my hand gently as he could feel my distress and that snaps me out of it for second.

Stefan rubs his forehead, considering Damon's words, he opens his mouth to speak, but Damon beats him – "Now I've got your attention, haven't I?" his eyes glisten with amusement

"This is not funny!" I yell, but that makes Damon laugh a little.

"Shh, Elena, it's okay." Stefan puts his hand over my shoulder and moves his hand over my back in a soothing manner. "Damon, whatever you're trying to achieve here, just stop already. I've had enough of your games."

"But this is not a game, Stefan." His face adapts a serious expression. "Look here's the thing. Klaus is afraid of us, like really afraid, and he knows that I am up to something, for I've had his minions stalking me for years, but they are so incompetent that they have never got to me. Klaus has also figured it out that the prophecy is about us. So he has decided it's best to eliminate the threat before it's too late."

"Too late for what?" I ask but Damon raises a finger up, silencing me.

"Ah, just in time." He says and then I feel it, the air shifting around us, changing causing me to close my eyes just for five seconds. When I open them I see a woman in standing in the room – she is gorgeous, her long blonde hair is framing her face and she holds herself with a pride I've never seen before.

"Rebekah." Stefan hisses, and I can instantly feel the hairs on my arms rising up, fear coursing through my whole body.

"Stefan," she acknowledges him, giving a wry smile. She gives a curt nod to Damon and then her eyes fix on me. "And you must be Elena," she basically drawls out my name, "Pleasure, I'm sure." She says with a curious accent and takes seat next to Damon.

"You'd better have a darn good reason for this, Damon." Stefan glares at the duo, but both of them ignore him, their attention focused on me. I want to run away from here and never look back, that uncomfortable I am under their stare.

"So she's the one, huh?" Rebekah asks.

"Turns out so…" Damon muses, his eyes wandering over me.

"Would someone be so kind and explain everything once and for all?" Stefan raises his voice, clearly annoyed with how the things are going.

Rebekah turns her head to look at him – "That's why I am here. So I gather that Damon has filled you in on the prophecy?"

"Partly." Stefan says, sending Damon a dirty look.

"Firstly I'd like to say that I am completely on your side." Rebekah says, eyeing each and every one of us. "And I'd gladly forget everything that happened in the past." There's a hint of regret in her voice, but it is not completely believable, also I can see Damon balling his hands into a fist, a gesture of anger.

"Go on." Stefan's voice is cold.

"I should start from the beginning. You're ready?"

I nod, trying to give her a small smile, but with her it's almost impossible.

"In the beginning, the only angels that existed were the archangels. There were six of them – Mikael, Niklaus, Elijah, Finn, Kol and myself. Our initial purpose was not to serve the purposes of humans. We were designed to be the soldiers of god, fighting the evil." She stops, collecting her thoughts.

"But over time, Niklaus began to revel in the power he was granted. He wanted more and he achieved it." Rebekah purses her lips – "New angels, for different purposes started to appear out of nowhere, all blindly loyal to Niklaus, serving the human's needs. Nobody but Mikael dared to question him about it and in his fit of rage, Niklaus killed him. So I and the others decided it'd be better to keep quiet, if we didn't want to face the same fate. We learned to accept all of this. But Niklaus didn't consider one thing and it was Destiny. A prophecy was made by her – about two humans, who will turn angels – one dark, one light."

Rebekah at first looks at Damon then turns to Stefan. "You two. You can imagine Niklaus' rage when one day we all feel the calling of two new angels and when he found out that you were human…" she closes her eyes, remembering.

"The prophecy also said that there's going to be a woman. And that woman will set free what once was imprisoned with the help of those two angels. Set free heaven once again, as it was always meant to be." Rebekah takes a deep breath, it seems like it is hard for her to talk about this.

"Niklaus was sure that he could control Stefan and Damon. He made sure that no one would ever tell them anything about the prophecy and their part in it. But when Katherine appeared, his self-confidence started to waver. He was sure that Katherine was the woman from the prophecy and when she and Damon disappeared…in his wrath he killed Finn." I could swear that I see Rebekah's hands slightly trembling, but she hides her distress very well.

"When he found Damon and Katherine from that house in the forest, he forced me to come with him. He wanted me to do his bidding, to test my loyalty to him. And I passed the test. But when Destiny said that she wasn't the one, Niklaus literally went mad, he began to search every corner of the world for that woman who is supposed to thwart him. He didn't succeed in it, though. But Stefan here…" she fixes her eyes on Stefan's face, who has been completely still during the whole story.

"You found her. That night on that street, when you two officially met, something in Heaven changed and Niklaus knew. He confronted Destiny who confirmed that she has been found. In his desperate attempts to fix things, he set Destiny to a mission to get rid of Elena, but thanks to Stefan, she didn't succeed as we can all see. So Niklaus decided to approach Stefan, pressure him to make the right decision, to keep him away from Elena." Everyone's heads are turned to Stefan's direction, including mine, but his face is still unreadable.

"He didn't win that fight either, as we can all be witness to." Rebekah continues, "So now he's waging a war."

"Why are you helping us?" I ask silently, somewhat afraid to raise my voice.

"Because it was never supposed to be this way! Heaven was never supposed to be a prison, angels were never supposed to guide humans life, it's not natural! I can't live like this, feeling like a prisoner in my home, it is time to set things finally right." She practically yells, making me flinch at the sudden increase of volume.

"How did you two end up working together?" Stefan asks, pointing his finger back and forth between Damon and Rebekah.

"Rebekah approached me, I had been searching for a way to get my revenge, and when I finally agreed to listen to her story I knew that I had the perfect opportunity." Damon says, all the previous playfulness is gone from his voice, it's more grave and solemn.

"But wait," I say, catching a stray thought. "The prophecy said that there are two fallen angels, one is Damon, but who is the other one?"

"I don't know. That is the problem, it could be anyone. We don't know what that means and how it may affect everything." Rebekah answers, pouting her full lips slightly.

"So… we basically have to wait and see what happens? How are we supposed to free heaven, with what exactly?" Stefan queries.

"Yes and no." Damon says, "As I understood, the only way to free heaven is to kill Klaus. But to do that we need a weapon…"

"Of which there's only one." Rebekah finishes his sentence.

"Let me guess, Klaus has that weapon?" Stefan grimaces, "Just great."

"He used that to kill Mikael and Finn. It's the only thing that can kill archangels." Rebekah stands up from where she was sitting – "Elena is the one who has to do it, so it is said." She gives me a knowing look.

I feel like the air has been removed from my lungs. Me? I can't kill anyone; it is hard for me to even kill a spider, no matter how afraid I am of it. Stefan can clearly sense my anxiety, he gives me a sad look, knowing what I am living through right now.

"No." Stefan's voice echoes through the whole room. "I won't let her do it."

"Stefan," Damon whines, "Now is not the time to play the concerned boyfriend, we'll…" he can't finish his sentence because Rebekah puts her hand over his mouth in a flash, silencing him.

"Sssh," she whispers, looking around warily. "He's here."

* * *

**Uh oh... what will happen next?**

**Thank you all for the wonderful reviews, they always make me smile, you guys are the best!**

**The bad news is that there's not going to be an update for the next two weeks for I have my midterms and I have to concentrate on my exams. :( I tried to make this chapter as long as I could to compensate for that, I hope you can understand. **

**Until next time! :)**


	16. Let tomorrow have it's way

**Hello! First of all I want to apologize for this chapter. I struggled with it a lot, and I am not happy with it at all... but here it is. Hopefully you won't murder me after this.**

* * *

**Stefan**

"He's here." Rebekah's voice rings inside my skull like a bell, over and over again. At first I can't comprehend what she is saying, but then I feel it. Klaus is here. Fear immediately takes over my body, not for myself, but for Elena, Jeremy, even for my brother. I can't – no – I _won't_ let anything happen to them. There has to be a way to protect them.

We all stare down at each other, waiting for something to happen; the only sound accompanying us is the sound of our breathing. No one even dares to flinch, make the slightest move. There's a slight change in the air, it surrounds us, making me feel like we're trapped. Klaus. I know that this is only the start of his game, to make us intimidated first, trying to break through and then attack.

Suddenly Elena whimpers beside me – "Jeremy," her voice breaks and I quickly grab her hand, stopping her from running upstairs. Damon sends her an angry look, but she completely ignores it.

"Shh, it's okay." I whisper in her ear. "I am going to get your brother." I promise, knowing that if I didn't, she would probably find a way to go to him anyways and then all chaos would break loose.

"What the hell, Stef?" I hear Damon's frustrated voice, "Klaus is here and you're worried about that boy upstairs?" his icy eyes are shooting daggers at me, "How stupid can you be?"

"He's my brother, Damon." Elena says, her voice barely audible. The shift in the atmosphere of the room is still present and I can't help but wonder when Klaus is going to show his face. I can also see that Rebekah's getting restless too, and her face is one of pure terror.

Damon grimaces, clearly agitated with the whole situation. "What are you waiting for then?" he snaps, "Don't expect us all to be alive when you get back." He nods at me, upset.

I pay no heed to Damon's words, but turn to Elena again – "I'll be back in a second, I won't let anything happen to you." I say to her, pressing my lips against her forehead and then I am upstairs, in Jeremy's room.

He is still sleeping, quite deeply by the sound of his breathing – it's relaxed and slow. I give him a slight shake, calling his name. Jeremy stirs a little, but doesn't wake up, so I shake him even harder, not wanting to raise my voice. He opens his eyes, blinks a few times, and when he recognizes my face he jolts upright, his breath coming out in a rapid pace. "Stefan, what the hell?!" Jeremy's voice is groggy, but loud enough to wake everyone up.

I cover his mouth with my hand to keep him from making more noise. I listen intently for anything, but I can't detect any movement, all seems to be well downstairs as well at the moment.

"I will remove my hand if you promise to keep quiet." I warn Jeremy, looking straight into his eyes, hoping that he'll obey. He nods, but his eyes are still suspicious. I slowly take my hand off his mouth and he keeps his word as not a sound escapes from him.

"There's a problem," I speak in a rush, "Get dressed. Now." I take the shirt and the jeans from the chair next to his bed and throw them into his lap. Jeremy opens his mouth to protest, but I silence him again, shooting him a look – "Be quick about it."

He puts the clothes on and as soon as he has his shoes on, I grab his hand and I am back in the living room again, with Jeremy. But when my eyes meet Elena's, I can see that something is clearly wrong. That is when I notice a fourth person standing next to Rebekah, sporting a lazy smile.

"How nice of you to join us, Stefan." He drawls and his grin gets wider.

"Klaus." I acknowledge his presence and walk stiffly next to Elena, holding my hand out for her, which she eagerly takes. Klaus' eyes follow the entire movement and as soon as he sees our little exchange his smile drops.

"Would someone care to explain me what is going on here?" I had already managed to forget about Jeremy.

"Jer.." Elena begins, but Klaus interrupts.

"This must be the lovely Elena's little brother. Jeremy, I assume?" he takes a step towards him, his face betraying no emotion. Elena immediately wants to go to her brother, but I restrain her, ready to jump between Klaus and Jeremy myself if he tries something.

"Yeah, I am..." Jeremy's voice is hesitant, "And who the hell are you?"

Klaus puts a hand on his chest, feigning offence – "I'm baffled, you haven't heard of me?" He looks back at us all – "I am disappointed that the young Gilbert here doesn't know about me." He gives a sinister smile – "So let me introduce myself."

Before I can even think about moving myself, Klaus flashes over to Jeremy in an instance, grabs his head and twists it violently. A resounding crack echoes and Jeremy's lifeless body falls to the ground, leaving Klaus, seemingly satisfied with himself standing there.

It takes a second for everyone to register what just happened, it's like time has stopped.

"NO!" Elena screams, panicking, trying to run to his brother, but I hold her in her place.

"Damon, take Elena! NOW!" I yell at my brother, all the while restraining Elena in my arms.

"Stefan, let me go, Jeremy...I... please, Stefan!" she begs, sobbing. Klaus is watching the scene unfold before him with the annoying lazy smirk plastered on his face again, like he is proud of what he has done.

Damon walks briskly to me, waiting for further instructions. "Get her out of here," I command him, choosing to trust him, what can I do, he's the only one left. Damon only gives me curt nod, not even arguing with me, takes Elena's hand and then they are gone in a flash.

As soon as they're gone, I stalk over to Klaus and push him against the wall, letting all of my anger control my body. "What have you done?" I shout in his face, not even thinking about the fact that Klaus is a hundred times stronger than me.

"No, Stefan, the real question is what have you done?" he spits back, pushing me off him and twisting my arm behind my back, so I am not facing him anymore. I feel a jolt of pain coursing through my arm as he applies more pressure to it, pinning me to my spot. I can now see Jeremy's body lying on the floor, he is not breathing. Dead. A thousand different emotions attack me in an instant, the most potent one is how is Elena going to survive this. He was her only family.

I raise my eyes up from Jeremy to see Rebekah still standing in the middle of the room, her eyes glued to the boy.

"Rebekah," I croak and that seems to snap her out of the trance she seemingly was in and she locks her eyes with mine. At the same time, Klaus twists my arm again, making me scream out in pain.

"Stefan..." he coaxes, "Where did your brother take Elena?"

I don't tell him anything, and even if I did know where Damon took her, I would keep my mouth shut.

"Nik, stop!" Rebekah shouts when Klaus induces even more pain when he understands that I won't say anything about Elena's whereabouts.

Klaus suddenly lets me go, and I fall on the floor. He walks over to Rebekah, and wraps his hand around her neck – "You don't get to tell me what to do, traitor."

"Nik..." she wheezes, struggling to breathe as he still holds her in his grip. She tries to push him away, but doesn't manage to do that. "I should finish you right here and now," Klaus threatens as he reaches his free hand to the inside of his navy blue jacket. Then I see it. He is holding a blade, which flashes in the sunlight that is now starting to stream through the window. I don't see much of it, but I can tell that it has some intricate carvings on it.

Klaus runs the sharp edge across Rebekah's cheek, leaving a trace of blood behind. Klaus finally releases the chokehold he had on her and she stumbles backwards.

"So what am I going to do now?" Klaus muses, looking back and forth between me and Rebekah, who is clutching her throat trying to regain her breath.

I get up from the ground, slowly, trying to think of my next move, but I come up with nothing.

"Why did you kill that boy?" Rebekah asks, her voice dry and raspy. Klaus' attention focuses on her again, so his back is facing me. I notice Rebekah making a movement with her hand, indicating for me to get out of here. It hits me that she's trying to help me by stalling him, so I could get a chance to get out of here. But where?

"To send a message, darling, what else? It seems that Stefan here has broken a few rules with the beautiful Elena, I think it's time for the Salvatore brothers to truly learn their lesson." He shoots a menacing glare at me.

"He didn't deserve it, Nik." Rebekah's voice is starting to sound like herself again. I walk over to Jeremy, deciding that I should take his body with me, I can't leave him here. I try to sense Elena, but I get nothing. Where has Damon taken her? I am starting to think that maybe it wasn't such a good idea to let Damon take her. My mind starts to race, I try to think of places where Damon could've taken her, but every option I consider is a place where Klaus could easily track them down even without my knowledge. It has to be a place Klaus can't find...

"I agree, he didn't deserve it," Klaus answers, "But it was fun." He smirks, twirling the blade in his hands.

"You're insane." Rebekah counters, taking a step backward. Klaus follows.

Then it hits me. I know where Damon and Elena are.

"No, the only one insane here, is you, sweetheart. For thinking that you can outsmart me." He glares at the woman, visibly angry and takes another step towards her.

"Stefan, now!" Rebekah suddenly shouts, taking a lunge for Klaus, tackling him. And in a heartbeat I am gone from the Gilbert residence.

* * *

**Damon**

I don't even know what got into me when I agreed to listen to Stefan and take Elena with me. Was it some brotherly love or that kind of shit? Who knows?

But here we are now, in the place where I spent the best moments of my life and also the worst. The house I built for Katherine and I, then only place where the archangels don't know how to look for. I made sure of that when I brought Katherine here.

The house is safe from archangels, but not from other types of angels, who knows how many of them are under Klaus' spell. And if Klaus should be led here by someone, then we are all doomed. As was Katherine they followed Stefan here.

My only hope right now is that Stefan is smart enough to figure out that I brought his girl here, for I am fairly sure that he cannot sense her here.

If he manages to escape Klaus.

That thought is extremely disturbing, to be honest. I have never thought of Stefan getting killed by someone other than me, and trust me when I tell you that I have had at least a thousand opportunities to do that, but somehow I was never able to go through with it.

My thoughts are distracted by the sudden crying beside me. Right. Elena.

"Damon," she begs desperately, clutching my hand, "We have to go back, please, please. Jeremy is there. Oh god, no." She sobs, tears streaming uncontrollably from her eyes. Elena collapses on the floor, grabbing her hair, crying her eyes out. I don't know what to do, should I say something to her? Say that everything's going to be okay, when it's clearly far from it? I am so not cut out for this.

"Please, take me back." Elena pleads, "Stefan's there, Jeremy...no..." her sobs stop her for a second. "What if something happens to him, Damon please." She wails, the tears starting to fall again.

I am getting restless here, I can't handle her crying. Where is Stefan?

"We can't go back." I say to her, knowing that she will probably not listen to me.

And I was right.

"Yes we can, please, Damon. My brother, Stefan. I need to go back to them!"

"No we can't. I am sure Stefan's okay." I lie; he should be here by now. "And I am sorry about Jeremy." Well, actually I am not, but that is what is considered polite, right?

"Jeremy..." she whispers and then she breaks down completely, her sobs racking her whole body.

Okay this is it. I can't handle it, so I walk away from her, deciding to explore the house while I wait for Stefan to return. Yeah, I know, heartless, but what can a man do? After all, I am a fallen, there's not a trace of goodness left in me, or so they say.

The house is pretty much exactly as I remembered it, except from the cobwebs hanging around everywhere. The wooden floor still creaks in certain spots like it used to and the sun illuminates the dust-covered furniture.

I brush my hand over a red sofa, making the dust swirl in the air. I recall how Katherine wanted to buy it so badly, although I found it hideous, but in the end, she won. Like she always did.

I peek through a window, which is supposed to be facing a garden, but instead there's a thick shrub with few trees dotted between the bushes. Huh, I guess time really has caught up with this place.

I check all the rooms in the house, but find nothing of interest for me. It seems like this house has been untouched since that fateful night. I decide it's time to man up and see how Elena's doing back where I left her – just at the front door of the house.

Elena's still sitting on the ground, she has pulled her legs close to her body and is now resting her forehead on her knees. The crying has stopped, but her eyes are now devoid of any emotion, empty, bottomless. Scary even. That takes me aback a little.

"Hey, Elena..." I try to get her attention, but she is unresponsive. Great, now I basically have a vegetable to deal with. Where the hell is Stefan?

I start pacing back and forth, thinking over different scenarios. If my baby bro doesn't return, I have to have a back-up plan. There is no way I am going to be a babysitter for Elena. No freaking way.

My thoughts start to wander over how I should just flee, and leave her be, when I hear a thud in the living room. I run over there and to my relief it's Stefan. With Jeremy. Great.

"Finally!" I snap, letting my frustration show, "What took you so long?"

"Klaus." He breathes, "I saw the weapon, Damon. The one that can kill him. I saw it." Stefan looks around, searching the room. "Where's Elena?" he asks.

I fight the urge to roll my eyes – "She's back there," I point my finger over my shoulder. "How does the weapon look like?" I get back onto the more important subject, but Stefan ignores me. He places Jeremy's body gently on the red sofa, which makes my blood boil and walks past me, paying no attention to me.

I give one last look to the dead Gilbert boy on Katherine's sofa and follow Stefan to the hallway.

Stefan is kneeling beside Elena, one hand over her shoulder and he is whispering something into her ear, but I can't make out what it is that he is saying. All I can see is that Elena is starting to come back to us again. Her whole body is visibly relaxing as Stefan is talking to her.

"Elena?" Stefan pulls himself away from her face, making the distance between them a bit bigger.

Elena locks her big brown eyes with Stefan's green ones and for a second I think that she's going to bite his head off, I've never seen a woman looking this angry.

"I want him dead, Stefan." She says. "I want Klaus dead."

I smile. Game on.

* * *

**Until next time! Love you all! :)**


	17. I thought I could fly

**Hello, I am terribly sorry it took me so long to update. :( But life kind of got hectic and I lost my motivation to write this story... but you guys are stopping me from giving up, so hopefully I'll be able to find the inspiration again. :)**

* * *

**Stefan**

We buried Jeremy on the Gilbert family plot. Half of Mystic Falls was present at the funeral, paying their last respects to the boy who they thought fell down the stairs and broke his neck. We were quite sure that Klaus won't retaliate during the ceremony, as there were so many people present.

I decided to attend the funeral as well, knowing that I will probably draw unwanted attention, but I couldn't leave Elena alone like that in her heartbreak and sorrow. I got many strange looks from various people, that is true, but I ignored them and tried to focus my attention on Elena the whole time, trying to help her through the day.

Everything she feels, I do, too. I feel how broken, lost and desperate she is and there is nothing else in the world that I want more than to take all that pain away from her, to tell her that everything is going to be okay, but I know that I can't. I can't say things to her that I can't fulfil. Instead, I am just there for her, holding her, comforting her, doing everything in my power to make her feel that she is not alone in this world, that maybe the sun will come back into her life one day. That is all that I can offer to her right now, and every night I pray that it is enough.

We've been staying at Damon and Katherine's house. It is not the best option as the house is old and quite uncomfortable according to modern standards, but it is the safest choice we have right now, since according to Damon, this house is somewhat safe against archangels and we don't know when Klaus decides to strike again, therefore we have a slightly higher chance of survival here, than in Elena's house.

* * *

It has been exactly 7 days and 8 hours since the events that lead to Jeremy's death. Elena's been crying herself to sleep every night and the little sleep she's been able to get has clearly taken a toll on her. She doesn't eat, her eyes have dark circles under them and what scares me the most is the emptiness behind them.

I've been trying to get her to talk to me, to let her get it all out, but she never is willing to speak about it. But I am not going to stop, I have made it my current mission to get through her.

* * *

She's sitting in the living room, on the red sofa as she has been doing for the past week. Elena doesn't even raise her head to look at me when I enter the room, her eyes are glued to the floor and her hair is covering her face.

I sit next to her, beginning another try of getting her to talk to me. Every time I do that, I leave with an ache in my heart, and fear. Fear, that she will never recover from this, that she will stay like this; the broken doll as she is right now.

"Elena…" I begin, placing my palm over her hand. Her hands are cold as ice; the warmth that used to surround her has completely vanished. She doesn't respond to my touch, but I persist on.

"Please, talk to me." I beg, giving a gentle squeeze to her hand, and to my surprise, she raises her head and her eyes meet with mine.

"I…" she stutters, "Stefan, I… I can't." her face contorts in pain, but no tears fall from her eyes. I scoot closer to Elena, and wrap my arm around her shoulder, she automatically leans into my body and I send a silent thank you to the sky, she's finally starting to break through the shell she's been wrapping herself into.

"Yes, you can, Elena." I assure her, "Let me help you."

"How?" her voice cracks. "It hurts so badly, Stefan, it hurts."

I wrap both of my hands around her, encasing her in a tight hug. She rests her head on my shoulder, holding onto me with strength I didn't know she possessed. – "Shh…it's going to be okay. I can't make the pain go away, only time will heal those wounds, but I want you to know that I'll be here for you. Always."

"Promise?" she asks her voice barely audible.

"Promise." And as soon as I let the word slip from my lips I think about all the promises I have made to her, and I haven't been able to keep. I didn't keep her safe. I didn't keep her brother safe. It's basically my fault that she's in this mess right now, I have caused this pain to her, and I am the one responsible.

"You will get through this, Elena. I know you will. You're strong, beautiful and I know that you'll push through." I whisper in her ear for reassurance, convincing myself that maybe my words will make her feel better, but in the back of my head I know that they are just a drop in a vast ocean.

"You don't know that." She mumbles, sniffling. "How can I live on, when I know that all of this is my fault."

I am shocked by her words, is she really blaming herself for what happened?

"Elena, look at me." I command and she hesitantly leans back, so our faces are only bare inches away from each other. I can see a trace of a tear on her cheek, but no new tears are falling.

"None of this is your fault." I tell her, sternly. Her ears register my words, but her mind doesn't.

"How is it not?" she asks. "My choices were what led us here. Mine and no one else's. I'm the one to blame." Her eyes are so earnest I want to scream. She truly believes that it's all her fault.

I wonder if she can see the horrified expression on my face. – "Elena," I stress her name, grabbing her attention, a bit angry with her, a bit with myself; I should have seen this coming. "Listen to me very closely now." I hold her gaze, making sure that she is paying attention. "Don't blame yourself for this, I am begging you." Elena tries to interject but I won't let her.

"If you want to blame someone, blame me. I was the one who couldn't stay away from you when I knew that I should have left the minute things got serious. Everything that went down happened for my selfish reasons. It happened because I chose you when I knew that all that it could bring was only misery. And I was right. Look where it got you. Your brother's gone, and you're in danger and it's all because of me. Do you understand?"

Her face is devoid of any emotion as Elena is registering my words. It takes a while and I am almost starting to worry, when she finally parts her lips and only one word comes out – "No."

"No?" I echo, making it a question.

"No, I mean I do understand what you said, but I don't agree with it." Elena's beginning to get her fire back, I can feel it, and even her body feels a bit warmer.

"I won't let you take the blame, Stefan." I want to protest, but this time it's her that won't let me do it. "I chose you too, don't you see that? I could have let you go the moment I saw how dangerous my life got. But I didn't, because I didn't want to lose the way I feel about you." Her eyes are welling up with tears and I am holding my breath; that is how much her words are affecting me. "You're the best choice I've ever made." She breathes. "We're both guilty." Elena smiles sadly, but the smile doesn't reach her eyes.

I say nothing, because I don't know how to respond to her. I still think that I should have been more careful, I should have thought everything through when I decided to stay with her, I knew all the risks, but I had to know her and when she said that I was the best choice she had ever made, I couldn't help but think that for me, she is also the best choice. And I guess there's no turning back now. What's done is done.

"Stefan, say something." Elena's voice breaks through my reverie.

"Aren't we a pair?" I offer her a small smile, which she returns.

"Yeah. I guess we are." She says and rests her head on my shoulder again.

* * *

**Damon**

When I barge through the door and enter the living room I discover Stefan and Elena sitting on Katherine's sofa. Stefan's arms are around her slender body and her head is on his shoulder although her face is completely concealed by her long hair. I feel a tinge of jealousy course through my body at the sight of those two, but I brush it quickly off and get right into the business.

"You two lovebirds over there." My voice breaks through the daze they apparently were in and I am met by Stefan's annoyed face.

"Time to get your shit together, we've got an archangel to kill." I take two long strides and perch myself on the armrest of the sofa, right next to the pair.

"Damon, don't…" Stefan warns me but I roll my eyes in response. Elena has also detached herself from my brother and is now looking at me with contempt.

"C'mon, guys it's been a week. Time to continue the show." I whine, impatient, my whole body is on fire with the expectation that maybe I'll finally get my revenge.

"Don't you have any tact, Damon?" Stefan asks, "She buried her brother a week ago." He clenches his fists, clearly angry. I am not surprised at all; he always has been the protective one. But what does surprise me, or rather who, is Elena.

"Damon's right." She says quietly, putting her hand over Stefan's fist, which immediately relaxes. "I can't believe I am saying this, but I think Damon's right." She repeats herself, earning incredulous looks both from me and Stefan.

"See?" I can't help but to gloat, "Your girlfriend thinks I'm right." I wiggle my eyebrows at her, but she only scoffs at the motion.

"Elena, you don't have to do this." Stefan's voice is gentle and concerned.

"I want him dead, Stefan. I want Klaus dead." She repeats her words from the night Jeremy died. "I want him to suffer the way he has made me suffer, the way he has made you two suffer." Her eyes dart from my face to Stefan's.

"Great!" I exclaim, happy that we're back in action.

"Wait a minute." Stefan interrupts, always the calm one, annoyingly so.

"Elena, you don't know what you're getting yourself into. Klaus is dangerous and we have no weapon to kill him and we have no allies. It's just us three." He glances at me, his green eyes filled with worry. Geez, Stefan should really loosen up a little, although I do understand his concern. Was it Katherine instead of Elena, I'd probably lock her up in a cellar and release her when all of this had passed.

"Yeah, I wonder what happened to Rebekah." I say my thoughts out aloud.

"I don't know." Stefan responds. "She helped me escape from Klaus, but what happened after that…" he pauses for a second, reliving the memory. "I guess it can't be good." Stefan finally concludes with a sigh.

"Too bad. I wanted to kill her myself after I had eliminated Klaus." For what she did to Katherine - I don't care if it was Klaus' orders - she deserved to die.

Stefan and Elena both shoot me a dirty look. God, they're so righteous it makes me want to puke, but I do need them, so I won't remark on that.

"So, what's the plan, oh warrior princess?" I ask, ignoring her death stare.

"I don't know." She says.

Of course she doesn't know. I roll my eyes again.

"But what I do know is that for now I have to lock my grief away." Elena grimaces. "And I will go through with everything, without your help or not." She looks Stefan straight into his eyes. "It's my choice."

Stefan nods, accepting her answer, but I can see that he doesn't like it.

"So where do we start?" I clap my hands together, excited to kick some archangel ass.

* * *

**Please let me know what you think, even if it's bad. Your reviews keep me motivated and they give me ideas. I am forever thankful for them. Love you all! :)**

**Oh and I was asked where I got the idea for the prophecy thingy - well the simple answer is that I tend to read a lot of fantasy stories, where those kind of things pop up occasionally, and one night the idea just popped into my head for this story, so I decided to go with it. I know it's crazy and I am really hoping that I'll be able to pull it off.**


	18. Is this the end I feel?

**Hello! :) There's a bit lighter side to this chapter, which I personally think this story needed, because everything is doom and gloom in this story lol, and I loved to write it, so I hope you like it too.**

* * *

**Elena**

**Dear diary,**

_How much pain can a person endure? How much grief is it possible to cram down one's throat before it's enough? Because I have had two lifetimes worth of grief by now, and it's getting too much to handle. The only one who is keeping me in check is Stefan, but I can feel him drifting away from me, the reason I suspect has to do with me wanting to kill Klaus. And I get him, I do. I understand that all he wants to do is to keep me safe, after all, he is my guardian, and Stefan is driven by the need to protect me, to protect everyone he is close to. I have seen the way he looks at Damon, his beautiful green eyes filled with worry. He just got his brother back, or what is left of the old Damon, and he is terrified of losing him too. I do understand Stefan, there's no doubt about it, but I can't live like this. _

_I don't want to run, I don't want to hide. I need to fight. I need to fight for Jeremy, for my parents, for all the people I have lost. I need to fight for Stefan, because if I don't, I am afraid I am going to lose it completely and then there won't be a way out. I just can't run. _

_It's not about getting revenge on Klaus for killing Jeremy, although a part of me wishes to see Klaus suffer, a part of me wishes to induce so much pain on him that he will beg for mercy, but that part is something I am afraid to unleash, so I keep it locked away, hoping that it will never come to the surface._

I brush away a single tear from the diary page, smudging the ink right where I wrote Stefan's name, making it impossible to read out. I take a deep breath to calm myself; _no I won't cry_ I chant over and over again in my head, willing the tears to retreat.

Right when I get a hold of myself, I hear footsteps behind me and when I turn around I am greeted by Stefan's gentle face. His hands are stuffed deep in the pockets of his jacket and I can see that he clearly has got something on his mind, but he is hesitant to talk, so I decide to make things easier for him.

"Stefan..." I call out to him and his eyes finally meet mine. "You know, you can talk to me." I urge him, hoping that he will open up. I hate how he's so distant from me.

"Yeah...I just...I..." he stumbles, searching for the right words. He takes a deep breath before he starts again. "I wanted to talk about what you said few days ago." He pins his gaze on my face, searching for something, and I give a slight nod, saying it is okay for him to continue. "About you wanting to kill Klaus." His shoulders slump, his body releasing the tension he's been holding inside him. I can feel a wave of fear washing over me, knowing where this conversation is heading.

"Stefan..." my voice cracks and I can feel the sting behind my eyes. Great.

"No, Elena, listen to me." He quickly interjects, registering the fear on my face. Stefan takes a step towards me and crouches next to the chair I am sitting; he grabs a hold of my hands which are on my knees.

"You don't have to do this." He says. "I don't want you to put your life at risk, just to avenge Jeremy. Believe me, it's not worth it." Something inside me crumbles at the moment he speaks the last sentence. He doesn't understand. He thinks all of this is about getting revenge.

"No, Stefan, I do have to do this." I swallow down the lump in my throat. "And it's not about getting revenge. It's about you, Jeremy, Damon; it's about not living in constant fear that maybe today is the day I am going to die because of Klaus. It's about being able to live my life."

There's a moment of silence between us.

"I can't run." I whisper, desperate even. "And I can't lose you." I add, fighting to stay in control of my emotions.

Stefan looks at me for a long while, his gaze so intense it makes me squirm a little, but eventually he offers me a small smile – "I know. I can't lose you too." He squeezes my hands in reassurance. "And no matter what you decide, I'll stand by you."

"Thank you." I say, meaning it with all my heart. But before I can stop myself from asking, I blurt out – "How come you're so understanding about all of this? I expected a huge fight."

My eyes grow big as I realize what I just said – "No I didn't mean that, it's just... I...Stefan, I..." I splutter, silently cursing my brain for being so slow. However, Stefan takes me by surprise and laughs out loud, his green eyes twinkling.

"I guess I am just perfect." He jokes and raises his eyebrows in a suggestive way which is so Damon-like; I guess they must be related after all.

I slap him lightly on the shoulder with an open hand, trying to wipe that smile off that face, but that only makes him grin even wider. "Ouch, woman, that hurt. Control yourself."

"That's not funny!" I exclaim, trying to remain serious, but I can't help the smile spreading across my face.

"I wasn't trying to be funny," he says and without warning he stands up and scoops me in his arms, lifting me up in the air.

"Stefan!" I yell through laughter, all the sorrow and pain forgotten for a minute, I welcome the feeling with open arms. "Put me down!" I command, my voice shrill.

He spins around and walks over to the bed in the room, and starts to lower me down until my back touches the covers. I am basically pinned down between the bed and Stefan's body and suddenly I am very aware how close he is to me.

"We were having a very serious discussion." I say, trying to ease the tension.

"I un-serious'd it." He replies.

"Is that even a word?" I laugh lightly at his goofiness.

"Probably not."

"I never knew you had this side to you."

"What side?" he asks, the stupid grin returning to his face.

"This." I flail a bit with my hands, trying to show him my point, but due to the limited amount of space between me and him, I end up brushing his stomach and I can feel my face reddening.

"I don't understand." He feigns confusion, and I could swear he is enjoying watching me making a fool out of myself.

"This fun, joking, slightly arrogant side of you." I try to explain, "I've only seen the brooding part."

He gasps – "You think I'm brooding?"

"You're so serious all the time." I respond quietly, a bit afraid of his reaction. "But I like it." I add quickly.

"And you don't like this funnier part of me?" Stefan asks, cockily, leaning his face a bit closer to mine.

"I like it. Very much so." I breathe, wishing that he would close the remaining distance between our bodies.

"Good." He laughs. "Because _this_ is a side of me reserved only for special people."

My heart skips a beat at the thought of me being special – "I'm special?" I need to hear it from him.

"Yes." Stefan says simply, locking his eyes with mine. He stares at me for a long time, studying my face like it is some science project. "I love when you smile." He finally says, his voice mellow, turning my brain into mush. "You're always so sad," he continues, "I just wanted to make you smile, even if it's just for a minute."

"I think you did a pretty good job." I smile.

"I did? I guess I still got it then." The cocky grin returns and I smack his stomach.

"Shut up." I giggle.

"Ah, there it is again. Sound of angels, your laughter." He states like it's the most normal thing to say.

"The only sound of an angel here is your own voice." I tease him, although I am immensely affected by his words, for there are millions of butterflies in my stomach, fluttering nervously.

"You're right; I should listen to my voice more often." Stefan says, making me laugh even harder. I must look like a beet by now, but honestly, I don't care.

"Aren't your arms tired?" I finally manage to say, although I'm still gasping for air.

"Huh?" He dips his head to the right, reminding me a puppy for a second and that makes me burst into hysterics again.

"Your arms." I say through laughter, exhaling sharply. I can already feel how sore my abs are. "You've hovered over me the whole time; your arms must be tired by now."

I can see it from his face that he finally realizes what I was getting at –"Oh." He says and lowers himself down a bit. "So you want me to be closer to you?" he asks, and my breath gets stuck in my throat, there are only bare inches separating our bodies.

I am unable to say anything, my whole body feels like it's on fire and there is only one thing that could quench the blaze.

"So...?" Stefan's voice breaks through my concentration.

"Just kiss me already." I breathe and suddenly his lips are crushing mine, our fingers interlocked, our bodies pressed close together and all I can feel is pure bliss. Every tear, every ounce of pain and misery is forgotten for one sweet moment of being with Stefan. Feeling his rough hands on my body, exploring every inch of my skin - I just can't get enough of him. My back arches when his lips move to my neck, agonizingly slow. I run my hands through his hair, ruffling it, hoping that he'll pick up the pace, but instead he just stops.

"Why did you stop?" I can't help but ask; maybe touching his hair wasn't such a good idea after all?

He groans and looks up to me – "I heard the front door, Damon's probably here." It is then when I hear Damon yelling from another room, but I can't make up the words.

"He wants us to go and talk to him." Stefan says, seeming a bit upset of how things are going now.

"Okay." I sigh, and prop myself upright, reluctant to let him go. Stefan stands up and offers me his hand, which I gladly take, helping me from the bed.

"How's my hair?" he asks, jokingly.

"Perfect. Your hair is perfect."

* * *

I follow Stefan into the living room, where Damon's already taken a seat, holding a glass of bourbon in his hand, where he got it, I have no idea.

His cold blue eyes rake all over me and Stefan, probably realizing from the tousled hair and my flushed face what we were up to. And my suspicion is confirmed when he rolls his eyes.

"So what's the news?" Stefan asks, indicating for me to sit down, but I don't want to. I need to be beside Stefan right now.

"Nothing new on the angel radar." Damon quips. "I snooped around a bit and no one knows what Klaus is up to or what happened to Rebekah."

"Wait." I say. "You went to the city? Isn't that dangerous, if someone were to follow you here..."

"Yeah, yeah, then we will be discovered." Damon says, twirling the bourbon in the glass. "But I am quite sure that Klaus already knows we're here. He just hasn't made a move yet. Klaus isn't stupid – my guess is that when he found out that he can't trace Stefan, he figured it out that my old place is probably where he is hiding." He shoots a flickering glance at his brother. "I can't be traced, being fallen and all and no one followed me here, I made sure of that."

"Why are we here then?" I question, not really wrapping my mind around it.

"Because for the time being this is still the safest place." Stefan answers instead of Damon.

"How? If Klaus knows we are here, how is it possibly the safest place?" I really don't understand, I thought this house was free from danger, because archangels couldn't find it, but if Klaus know this place what's stopping him from just barging in and slaughtering us all?

"I swear to god, Elena, think a little." Damon's voice is harsh.

"Damon..." Stefan warns his brother, but Damon responds with another eye roll - "Explain it to your girlfriend, please."

Stefan exhales sharply, clearly annoyed by Damon's behaviour – "You see, Elena, let's say that Klaus, just on a whim, decides to pay us a visit. He thinks he knows where we are, so he comes here. But when he does, all he will see is nothing. No house. Nothing. That's how the house is somewhat secure from archangels. But there's a loophole included, so if someone is to lead him here, let's say another angel, then the rules change. Guardian angels, angels of death, all other sorts of angels can see this house; it's not protected from them. When Klaus or another archangel follows someone else here, then..." Stefan pauses.

"That's how Katherine got killed, because Stefan led them here." Damon finishes for Stefan, who lowers his head in shame.

I look at Damon angrily, for being so insensitive, but he just shrugs his shoulders, like nothing he said was out of line.

My mind is working on full gear right now – "So if Klaus is to say the directions of this house to another angel, then he could be led here?"

"Yes." Stefan and Damon respond at the same time.

"So basically we're like sitting ducks here? This isn't what I imagined a safe place to be like."

"Basically." Damon says.

"What's stopping him from attacking then?" I ask again, uneasy.

"Nothing." This time it's Stefan who says that.

"Okay, I understand..." I say, "But you weren't fallen back when Katherine was alive, Damon. And you surely went out of this house with Katherine, how come you didn't get discovered then?"

"Come with me," Damon stands up and beckons us to follow him. He leads us down to the cellar, which is so dark when I enter it, that I'm afraid to take even one step. Suddenly there's a flash of light and Damon's face is illuminated by the eerie light emanating from the flashlight in his hands. "C'mon scaredy cat" he calls and walks further into the room.

"Take my hand," Stefan's voice is right beside my ear. I intertwine my fingers with his and I am instantly flooded by relief and a sense of safety. He leads us deeper into the room, past some dusty crates and a shelf filled with expensive looking bottles. Huh, I guess that's where Damon got his bourbon.

When we reach Damon, he is already crouching down by the wall, guiding the light to some strange etching in the wall.

"What's that?" I ask and kneel beside Stefan's brother.

"That's what is keeping the archangels away. It's in enochian, in a very old version of it." He smirks, "I came across it when I was searching for a way to protect Katherine. Let's just say that it's not something that is much known to angels and only a handful can read it."

"Um, that's great, but it doesn't answer my question."

"Every time we went out with Katherine, I drew it on her. And on me as well, making it impossible for the archangels to find us."

"Why can't we do it now?" I ask, "Like tattoo it or something? That way I could go back to my place." I stand up and look at Stefan whose expression is unreadable.

"You want to tattoo it on your body?" Damon smirks, his imagination running wild.

"Shut up, you know what I meant." I retort.

"Yeah you could do that, but weren't you the one, who wanted to kill Klaus? So what's the point in tainting your body with ink if you're planning to eliminate the problem anyways?" Damon brushes past Stefan and me, leaving us, again, in complete darkness.

"Your brother is impossible." I say to Stefan, annoyed thoroughly.

"Tell me about it." He takes my hand again and starts to lead us back to the living room.

When we return, Damon is already in the same position as he was earlier, only this time the glass in his hands is almost empty.

"The thing with the mark is, Elena," Damon begins to talk again, "is that even if you have it, other angels can still find you. And your house is unprotected, so Klaus can send any other angel to your doorstep and when you innocently open the door – bam! – Klaus is there and you're dead." He raises his glass in my direction as a toast and drinks up the remaining liquid.

"He's right, Elena." Stefan says. "The mark can protect you only to an extent."

I turn to face Stefan - "Yeah, I'm beginning to see that it might not be the best idea."

"So we only have two options – you two either run and hide, _or _you help me kill Klaus. And as I recall, Elena was very eager to go with the second choice a few days ago." Somehow, there's a bottle of the amber coloured liquid in Damon's hands and as he is talking, he is pouring himself another glass.

"Yes. I want to fight. There's no other way, no matter how many marks we have, we're never safe." I say it to assure Stefan, to assure Damon, to even assure myself.

"Good, because my going to the city wasn't completely in vain." Damon says, his eyes going back and forth between me and Stefan.

"Spill it, Damon." Stefan is losing his patience.

Damon's icy blue eyes stop on Stefan and I my body turns numb when he utters his next sentence – "Stefan, I need you to find Destiny."

* * *

**Back to doom and gloom...**

**Thank you guys for reading, I love you all! :)**


	19. Building It Up

**Hello! There was a question about Destiny - on who she is. In the beginning of this story, she was the one who caused some problems in Elena's life. Stefan mentions her in some chapters and so does Rebekah in chapter 15.  
**

* * *

**Stefan**

„I'm sorry what?" I'm sure I misheard.

„You want me to do what?" Out of all Damon's ridiculous plans, this must be number one.

„You heard me, Stef. I want you, no let met correct that, I _need_ you to find Destiny. "

I can feel Elena's body stiffening beside me, I haven't told her all what I know about Destiny, but she does know that she was the one who caused problems in her life.

„Why? " I narrow my eyes at Damon, who is still at ease on the couch, stirring the liquid in the glass.

„Because she's going to help us." He doesn't raise his head to look at me when he speaks, and that comes across as odd.

Elena still hasn't said a word, I expected her to already start objecting to this. I can sense her distress, so I grab her hand, maybe that will help her, but when I do, she doesn't respond very eagerly. This is again one of those times when I wish I could read her mind.

„How in the world is she going to help us?" I raise my voice. „For all we know, she's been working with Klaus the whole time."

Damon stands up, empties the bourbon glass in his hands and takes a step closer to me and Elena. He jabs his finger at my chest – „That's exactly why we need her aid, she probably is under Klaus' orders, and that's good, maybe we can get some inside info."

„What makes you think that she's going to help us?" I shove his hand off my chest.

„Because I know stuff, Stefan." He takes a step back, glaring at me and Elena. „While you two have been sitting here like lovesick puppies, I have gathered some information on how to get to Klaus and trust me when I say that Destiny may as well be our only shot at this."

„Why don't you go and look for her yourself?" Elena finally speaks up, defiant.

„I can't." Damon states, like that is answering her question.

„Care to elaborate on that?"

„I could, but what's the point?" he smirks. „The point is that I just can't, Stefan can. Why wait longer?" He takes the bottle again and pours himself another drink.

"Damon," Elena warns, glancing up to me for a second. I give her a slight nod. "Why can't _you_ go and find Destiny?"

Damon pinches his nose, irritated – "God, you're so stubborn, Elena." He spits out. "Fine, I'm fallen, he's not. Is that enough for you, Miss Gilbert?"

Elena shoots him an annoyed smile – "Yes. Thank you very much." I feel like I'm witnessing two siblings fighting each other. It is kind of amusing actually.

"How can I trust you, Damon?" I ask, hoping that Damon and Elena will stop their mindless bickering. I would do anything for my brother, but right now, I can't be too sure about his intentions, considering that Damon always carries a double meaning to everything.

"You can't." He answers, and walks away leaving me and Elena standing in the room, completely clueless.

"That went well." Elena comments after a while.

I inhale deeply – "Yeah." I feel like rolling my eyes.

* * *

Later that night I am perched on the edge of Elena's bed when her voice pulls me away from my thoughts. "So what are you going to do?" Elena asks while combing her long hair. She's sitting behind the vanity table that's in the corner, so I am guessing this room used to be Katherine's. There are candles spread across the room, since we have no electricity in the house. They are giving away eerie light, illuminating the space with yellowish glow.

"I don't know." I answer her honestly, because I truly don't. Although what choice do I have? It's either that, or waiting here until Klaus decides now is the right time to wreak more havoc in our already messed up lives. "What do you think I should do?" Elena's been awfully quiet on the matter, so I am eager to know her thoughts on it.

She turns away from the mirror, so now she's facing me. Her expression is serious and there's a slight edge to her voice. "I think that Damon's hiding something. I think he knows something, but is not telling us."

"That's what I thought, too." I sigh. "But I can't see any other way, Elena."

"So you want to go with his crazy plan? To find Destiny?" I can see her hands starting to shake.

"No, I don't want that, Elena." I assure her. "But I don't know what else we should do? I said I would help you fight; I want to help you, keep you safe. I can't do that by sitting here and waiting." I keep my gaze locked on Elena.

"What if something happens to you?" Elena asks. "What if Klaus finds you before you find Destiny?" she shivers, "I can't even think about losing you." Her eyes are glimmering with tears.

"Elena..." I stammer, feeling her pain.

"Please, Stefan. Don't do it." She stands up and walks over to me, grabbing my hands, her whole demeanour screaming with desperation. When her skin touches mine I am welcomed by the familiar current I feel every time I touch her. I've got so used to it by now, but right now it is so strong that it startles me and I almost pull my hands away.

"I won't." I say.

She falls asleep in my arms after a while.

Elena looks so peaceful and relaxed in her sleep, like there are no worries in her life. Like she's meant to do great things, live a full and healthy life. I feel like I have taken all those things away from her; that I've caused everything bad in Elena's life. The feeling almost suffocates me, trying to rip my heart and soul out. I need to make it right. I need to get Elena her life back.

* * *

I slip out of the bed after I made sure that she's sound asleep. I place a soft kiss on her cheek – "I'm sorry." I whisper before I turn my back to her.

I sneak out of the room, trying to be as silent as the old house allows me. I hold my breath when I hear the floorboards squeak under my shoes, Elena stirs a little in her sleep, but doesn't awake and I let myself breathe a little easier.

I am almost to the front door when my brother's voice stops me.

"Sneaking out, aren't we?"

"Damon..." I warn, not bothering to turn around yet.

"I'm not going to stop you, if that's what you're getting at."

"What do you want then?" I spin around; he's leaning casually against a wall, arms crossed, wearing his trademark smirk.

"You know I heard your little talk earlier." He says.

"I guessed much, but I really don't care about your opinion." Well, that's not entirely true.

"She begged you to stay, Stefan and yet, here you are; ready to jump into the adventure of finding Destiny, all the while suspecting that I have some ulterior motive." Damon purses his lips a little, waiting for my response.

I close my eyes, running a hand over my face; I really don't understand why I am having this conversation with Damon.

"What am I supposed to do then, huh?" I ask. "Finding Destiny is the only lead we have right now, and yes I don't trust you, and I do think that there might be more to it, but I don't have a choice, do I? I said I would fight with Elena and this is what I am doing now. I know that I am betraying her, especially her trust. She might even hate me for this, but I have to do something, Damon."

"Save the morality speech, brother. I don't need one." He rolls his eyes. "I am glad that you're doing this, it shows that you've still got balls." He grins at me and now I am the one rolling my eyes.

I turn back to the door, placing my hand on the handle, but before I exit I turn to give Damon one last glance – "Keep her safe for me, please. I know that you don't care for her, but I do and if you have any shred of the old Damon I knew, left in you, you will do that to me."

He doesn't say a word and with that I push down the handle and enter the chilly weather.

* * *

Where do you start looking for a woman who is basically one of the most hard to find person's on earth? The only logical place I can think of is heaven, but going there is risky and dangerous, but I can't think of any other site that might hide her, so I decide to give it a go.

When I arrive at heaven, I am welcomed by nothingness. It's like the whole place is on lockdown, there's not a soul to be seen. I take a few hesitant steps around, looking for any threat, but I see no one. I had expected to run as soon as I arrived here, hoping that maybe I'll be lucky and I will find Destiny before I'm killed.

I wonder what has happened, has Klaus really got that desperate that he's declared a state of war up here?

I walk until I reach the corridor I was looking for. I figure if Destiny is hunkering up here somewhere, then she's got to be in one of those hundreds of rooms that are scattered around the white hallway.

When I enter the corridor, I see an endless tunnel, lined with white doors, each looking exactly the same. I take one last look behind me to make sure I have no unexpected company and when I don't see anyone, I close the door behind me.

I test the first door on my right – it won't open. The door on my left won't open either. I wonder if I'm able to open any of these doors, maybe this isn't the right place. I actually have no idea what could be hidden in those rooms, if they are rooms at all, angels were never allowed to enter them; the only one I've seen coming here was Klaus.

I walk over to the next pair of doors. Locked. So are the next ones and after trying what might have been a hundred pairs of doors, I am losing my patience. I look ahead of me and I see no end to it. Also the white walls, white doors, white floor and ceiling are making my head hurt. When I look back I can't point out where the main door, the entrance to this hall was and I start to panic. What if this was some elaborate trap to get me away from Elena? What if Damon betrayed me in the worst way possible?

No, I can't possibly think like that, I try to calm myself. He is my brother; he wouldn't do that to me. But there is this other part of me which says that my brother was lost when he fell, he doesn't care and he doesn't want to care. All he thinks about right now is getting his revenge. Revenge on Klaus, on me. I feel like suffocating.

I start to run, desperately trying every door to open for me, but I get nothing. I run for what must have been hours. I don't know, I lose track of time. My heart is racing and all my hopes are slowly being crushed. _"You're stuck here forever."_ It keeps playing in my head, never ceasing to sow new seeds of terror in me. _Forever._

I want to give up, I want to fall down on my knees, and never to stand up again, but something is stopping me. My legs carry me automatically, my hands try every doorknob automatically, it's like I've got no control over myself.

I run for another hour. Then a voice suddenly stops me.

"Stefan."

I turn around and I see Elena. She looks at me with eyes filled with worry. I am frozen on the spot, how is it possible that she's here? Did Damon bring her? No, it can't be, my mind must be playing tricks with me.

"Elena?" I ask my voice shaky. "What are you doing here? How did you...?"

"Stefan, I'm here to help you." She smiles, but it doesn't seem sincere to me. "Come." She beckons, opening a door to her right; she reaches out her hand to me. "You'll find what you're looking for right here. Come with me Stefan." Elena coaxes.

My feet involuntarily take a step forward, then another and another until there's only a little amount of space separating me and Elena. She smiles again and nods her head, encouraging me. I take her hand.

It's warm and it feels like it belongs to Elena, but something is missing. I look her straight into eyes and everything seems fine, but I _can't feel it. _I can't feel what I feel every time I touch her, the current that flows through my body, even from the slightest touch I am zapped by the electricity that runs between us, but not now.

"Elena, wait." I say.

"There's no time, Stefan, we have to go." There's urgency in her voice.

"No. I won't go before you tell me something."

She lets out a sharp breath, like she's annoyed with me. She gives me another smile, but this time I know that something is off.

"Yes. What is it you want to know?" Elena asks.

"When we touch, what do you feel?" I put my other hand over our already joined hands. I still don't feel anything.

She tilts her head, studying my face for a while, before answering – "I feel your skin against mine Stefan. I feel the heat, I feel like you belong with me."

I back away, letting go of her. "You're not Elena."

She smiles again, but this time the smile is menacing, evil. Her eyebrows rise up and she pouts her lips slightly – "What gave me away?" her voice is icy, she saunters away from the door, closer to me, I retreat again another step. "Was it the clothes? The way I spoke? My hair?"

"Who are you?" I ask, although I'm starting to get the idea.

"Tsk, tsk, Stefan. Not so fast." She waves her finger in a warning way. This woman's movements are not like Elena's at all. They're deadly, dangerous, some might say even sexy.

"Who. Are. You?" I repeat, putting emphasis on every word.

"Ugh, you're so impatient, why can't we have a little fun first?" she whines. "I'm so lonely all the time; you can't imagine how boring it is over here. I rarely have any visitors and usually it's only Klaus, and he's dull as dishwater." She rolls her eyes, Elena's eyes.

"You're Destiny." I say it out aloud, testing the name on my tongue.

"Aah, and ten points go to Stefan Salvatore!" Her face is beaming by now.

"Why let me run around here like a fool and then come to me as Elena?" My voice comes out harsher than I intended, but seeing this woman – the mirror image of Elena – makes me so angry.

"As I said before, I was bored. And you're hot. So I watched you for a little while." She takes another step forward, her hips swaying. This time I don't budge. "When I had enough of watching you, I wanted to have some more fun with you." She runs her finger across my chest. _This is not Elena. She's not Elena._

"But coming to you in my true form..." Destiny licks her lips, "wouldn't have given me the results I expected. Although it turns out coming to you as the woman you love... well, let's just say that you're stronger than I thought." Her eyes are now piercing into mine, and it's slowly driving me insane.

"Would you please," the tone of my voice is clipped, "stop that."

"Why?" she asks. "It's amusing to see you struggle so much with yourself."

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. "Do you even know why I'm here?"

"Of course I do." Her voice, Elena's voice, is so close to my ear. _She's not Elena._

"Will you help me?"

"I don't know, will I?" she teases, her body so close to mine.

"Stop it!" my anger bursts out and I slam her against the wall, surprising her and myself. I have never been a violent person.

For a second I detect a hint of fear in her eyes, but then it dissolves as quickly as it appeared and she lets out a giggle. "Playing rough, aren't we, Stefan? I like it."

I step away from her, disgusted with myself, with my behaviour. If it were truly Elena and I did that to her, I would hate myself for all eternity.

I rub my temples, trying to calm the storm that's brewing inside my head. _She's not Elena._

"Please." I beg. "For what it's worth, please stop." I raise my head to look at her.

Her face immediately drops after hearing my words, hearing the desperation behind them. "Fine." She sulks. "Have it your way then, but you don't know what you're missing."

The atmosphere around us shifts and before my eyes Elena becomes Destiny. She looks as if she's in her mid 20s; her long, golden hair is falling down in soft curls over her shoulders to her waist. Her eyes are the colour of ice, pale blue, scary even. They remind me a bit of Damon's, although his aren't that harsh. The cheekbones of her face are prominent as are her lips, which are the colour of blood. She's dressed in a long ivory coloured gown, which leaves her arms and shoulders bare. All in all, she is one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen in my life.

"Happy?" Destiny asks, and her voice startles me. It's like a thousand harps are playing at the same time, it's so melodious you could be hypnotized by it.

I nod, unable to tear my gaze away from her.

"Let's get down to business then, or have you changed your mind about having a bit of fun?" Destiny smiles and steps towards me, with the same sway in her hips as before. Apart from her looks, everything about her, which I saw earlier when she was pretending to be Elena, is the same.

"No." I say. "Let's do this."

Destiny lets out a sigh – "Fine. Business it is."

* * *

**Thanks for reading! :)**

** From now on, I am going to answer to every review I get, well that means that you're not anonymous and that you have private messaging enabled.**


	20. Previously on

**PLEASE READ MY NOTES BEFORE, OR YOU'LL BE GREATLY CONFUSED!**

**This is a recap of all the events that has happened in the story so far. I thought that it might help to keep up with how things are going, because, hell, even I had forgotten some of the things lol. Feel free to ignore this, the next real update will be up sometime this week. :)**

* * *

_Stefan Salvatore is a guardian angel of Elena Gilbert, who had lost her parents in a car accident and who is now living with her brother Jeremy. The story begins when one night Stefan saves Elena from a thug who attacks Elena. It is not usual for Stefan to make himself known to his charges, but at that time, he had no choice. So, Elena and Stefan meet officially. A lot of questions are asked, from both sides and eventually Stefan left, leaving Elena alone, which wasn't a good idea, since it is later seen how she broke down in her kitchen. It is revealed that Elena works as a nurse in a hospital, where her patients are mainly sick children. Stefan, who is constantly looking after Elena, sees a sick boy, Zach, who for some reason can see Stefan. Later, Zach dies, which has a devastating effect on Elena and she recklessly sits in her car and speeds away. She wrecks her car while trying not to hit an animal and Stefan is right there to witness everything, although he can't prevent the accident from happening. He tries to get her out of the car but at the same time Elena's heart stops beating with one word on her lips – „Stefan." _

_She falls into a coma, but we see how she's in this other world, a limbo of a sort, where she is neither dead nor alive. She's in a big meadow, with only one dark winding road. Elena wants to take that road, but a voice stops her – Stefan's voice. He explains where she is, that she isn't dead yet but if she goes down that road, she will die. Elena doesn't really believe him and Stefan is forced to reveal his secret, although she isn't willing to trust him on that either. Eventually, Elena listens to Stefan, who helps her get back from the coma, promising that she won't remember any of that. Also, we learn how Stefan is suspecting Destiny of all the problems Elena has in her life and he wonders why Destiny wants her dead so bad. _

_Elena wakes up in the hospital, not remembering the events in the meadow, but she does dream about them. After being released from the hospital, Elena winds up back there again pretty soon after an especially vivid dream about her conversation with Stefan in the meadow. Jeremy tells Elena that she had been unconscious for two days and no one knows why that occurred, also there is a visitor waiting for her – Stefan._

_Stefan, after trying to talk himself out of everything, can't fight the urge to talk to Elena, so he decides to pay her a visit. We learn that after the car accident it was Stefan who brought Elena to the hospital, which leads to a discussion why Stefan was even on that road. He tries to convince Elena that he was visiting the graveyard in the middle of the night, for no apparent reason, but Elena doesn't believe that. That is also the first time when Stefan and Elena feel the current flowing through their bodies each time they touch each other. Those events also bring up another question – who is Stefan exactly? He tries his best to deflect Elena's questions, but when she mentions the dreams she's been having, his interest is sparked, for it means that Elena actually remembers the events in the field, and although she does not know that they are actually memories, she still chooses to trust them, therefore Stefan's secret is out in the open. _

_Stefan leaves abruptly after Elena finds out the truth and they do not see each other for approximately a week. Elena is still kind of amazed by the fact that there are such things as guardian angels and Stefan is hers. She still has dreams about the meadow, but this time, they are darker, with Stefan being cold and cruel. _

_Stefan battles with himself; he doesn't know what he should do – should he watch over Elena from distance or should he be there for her - physically there. In his search for answers, he visits the place where Elena crashed her car and he finds something curious – a single white lily, which brings back memories he'd rather forget. Stefan then decides to visit the cemetery as his gut is telling him that there's something more to that flower and he is right. In the Salvatore crypt he finds his long lost brother – Damon._

_Next we are taken back in time. The Salvatores, originally from Italy, moved to America in search for greater wealth and opportunities. When Stefan was 19 years old, his and Damon's mother passed away, this had a deep impact on their father, Giuseppe. His mind started to deteriorate and in times he didn't even recognize his own sons. A year after their mother's death, Stefan and Damon decided to talk to their father and Stefan, being the son who Giuseppe tolerated more, made the first move. Unfortunately, Giuseppe did not recognize his son and in a fit of rage, killed both Stefan and Damon._

_Damon and Stefan woke up in a forest, where they were presumably dragged by their father in an attempt to hide their bodies. They were disoriented and confused – how was it that they were still alive? The brothers heard footsteps approaching them and they met Niklaus and Rebekah – archangels. They explained that Stefan and Damon were the humans who were predicted to become angels – one guardian, the other one an angel of death. Stefan understood that there was definitely more to that prediction, but neither he nor Damon could find out anything about it, so they eventually stopped asking._

_350 years later we meet Katherine Pierce, whose stepmother was Stefan's charge at that time. Katherine herself was meant to marry to a man she despised. Stefan is reunited with Damon, who he hadn't seen for two years. It turned out that Damon was there to carry Katherine to the other side, but he couldn't do it. Instead, he fell in love with her and Katherine with him. Damon reveals his plan to Stefan – to escape with Katherine. To go into hiding from the archangels who wouldn't allow them to be together. Stefan was afraid for his brother, as it was against the rules to be with a human, but he did let Damon go. _

_It was almost ten years later that Stefan found Katherine and Damon – near Mystic Falls, their old home. Stefan, not knowing that he was followed, led Klaus and Rebekah to Damon and Katherine, which led to Katherine being killed and Damon clipped of his wings, making him a fallen angel. Stefan was, as a punishment for trying to help Damon, held prisoner in heaven for 50 years._

_Now, back to present. Damon and Stefan meet again after a very long time in the Mystic Falls graveyard, in the Salvatore family crypt. Stefan realizes that Damon has changed a lot. The brother he knew has been replaced by this cold, menacing man whose eyes are only full of hate for him. Damon reveals that when an angel falls – he or she is ripped of everything that was once good, what remains is only the hateful, bad parts. Damon also says that the only thing he wishes to see is, and I quote – "The only thing I want to have, is to see your life crumbling down like mine did." Stefan wants to know why he decided now to make his move. He must have had plenty opportunities to get his revenge. It turns out that Damon's reasons are hidden in Elena._

_Stefan now knows that he can't keep hiding from Elena, and he realizes that the only way to protect Elena is to be close to her, so after having the conversation with Damon, Stefan returns to the hospital, where Elena still is, but their reunion is cut short by Damon who has followed Stefan to the hospital and who now is looking for Elena._

_Stefan takes Elena away from the hospital, she of course has a lot of questions and Stefan has to admit to her that his brother may or may not want harm on her. He also reveals his past to Elena – how he was once human, how he became an angel and why Damon fell. Telling the story to Elena really upsets Stefan, but being the caring person that she is, she finds a way to make things better. This is also the night that Stefan and Elena both realize on an unconscious level that they have feelings for each other, although it's way too early for them to voice it._

_Stefan wants Elena to go into hiding from Damon, because he is afraid of what he might to do her, but Elena won't budge. She says that she can't leave Jeremy, that she can't run, because it would never end and Stefan accepts that it's her choice, that he can't make her do what she doesn't want to._

_Meanwhile, Damon has found Elena's house and has decided to pay her a visit. He is greeted by Jeremy who is instantly suspicious of him. After finding out his name, Elena won't let Damon enter, but that doesn't stop him from barging in and knocking Jeremy down, making him unconscious. Damon wants Stefan to be there also but who is missing, is exactly Stefan. _

_It turns out that Stefan was summoned to heaven by Klaus who knows that Stefan is getting way too familiar with Elena. He sends him a warning, reminding him what happened to Katherine and Damon._

_When Stefan returns he discovers Elena in tears, Jeremy unconscious and Damon being the cause of all that. To Stefan's great surprise, Damon hasn't harmed a single hair on Elena's head, the reason which Damon reveals soon after – there's a prophecy, which declares that there are three people destined to take down heaven and Damon is certain that those three are him, Stefan and Elena. The prophecy goes like this:_

_One fallen shall be the redemption of the other._

_One soul shall set free what once was imprisoned._

_Three human souls will find salvation,_

_Two will flourish,_

_One will perish._

_Damon tells Stefan and Elena that this is only a part of the prophecy he managed to get his hands on, and that he has an ally in heaven._

_Damon reveals that the prophecy includes two fallen angels, one being Damon, the other one unknown and three human souls - Stefan, Damon and Elena (Stefan and Damon were once human; it's a matter of interpretation)._

_After getting nothing more out of Damon, Elena commands Damon to leave, which he does. Elena and Stefan stay and discuss Jeremy's involvement in all of this, and Elena decides that she can't keep secrets from Jeremy. They discuss some more about the prophecy and their involvement in it, unsure of what standpoint to take. _

_Finally, Elena takes Stefan by surprise by kissing him and although it seemed like a step forward in their relationship, Stefan is still haunted by his own demons – he needs to do the right thing, he thinks that he shouldn't be selfish with her, that him being in her life would only bring more suffering and pain and that he shouldn't let himself be controlled by what he feels for her. Elena sees that and tries to talk some sense into Stefan, which he, with a heavy heart, finally accepts - that he can't control everything. That night they fall asleep in each other's arms. _

_Next morning Stefan wakes to Damon barging into the house yet again. Damon says that he knows about Stefan's encounter with Klaus and tells them that Rebekah is his ally._

_Damon also says that heaven is basically in a state of war –Klaus has started to get agitated and is beginning to plot their demise. _

_Another unexpected guest arrives – Rebekah. She tells them the whole story behind the prophecy – archangels were supposed to be the only angels in heaven, but one of them, Klaus started to like the power a bit too much. New angels started to appear from nowhere, only loyal to Klaus. Nobody questioned Klaus' motives but Mikael, who Klaus killed. The only one Klaus didn't consider was Destiny, who made a prophecy about two humans who will turn angels. Stefan and Damon. The prophecy also included a woman, who will set free, with the help of those two angels, what once was imprisoned – heaven. Klaus was sure that he will be able to control Stefan and Damon, but when Katherine appeared, his confidence took a hit, for he was sure that the woman in prophecy was Katherine, but it didn't turn out to be the case. Rebekah also says that when Stefan and Elena met officially, something in heaven changed and Klaus knew that Elena is the woman, so he had set Destiny to kill Elena, but Stefan stopped her every time. _

_The only way to free heaven is to kill Klaus and to kill him they need a weapon which Klaus carries with him all the time. Rebekah reveals that it has to be Elena who kills Klaus, it can't be anyone else. _

_Just as Rebekah finishes her story, Klaus appears. In the attempt to keep Jeremy safe, Stefan orders Jeremy to get downstairs as fast as possible, but that proves to be a mistake, as Klaus kills Jeremy on a whim. Stefan, seeing how things could get even worse, orders Damon to get Elena out of there, who obeys his orders, now Stefan and Rebekah are left with Klaus. Klaus begins to inflict pain on Stefan, wanting to know where Damon took Elena, although Stefan has no idea. Rebekah tries to stop Klaus from hurting Stefan and for a moment she succeeds as Klaus' temper gets best of him and he calls Rebekah a traitor and injures her with a blade that was hidden under his jacket – the weapon which can kill him. _

_At the same time, Stefan realizes the location Damon probably took Elena, and using the opportunity Rebekah gave him, he flashes away with Jeremy's body to Damon and Katherine's old house, which according to Damon is archangel-safe. _

_Elena is completely broken by the loss of Jeremy and is resolved to kill Klaus. Stefan tries to take the blame for Jeremy's death, but Elena won't let him, blaming herself instead. Finally they reach to an agreement that they both can be guilty._

_Meanwhile, Damon has decided that Elena has had enough time for grieving and it's time to get their archangel-killing business back on track. He shows them how he protected the house from archangels – by carving a sign into the wall of the house. He explains that it will protect the house from direct discovery from archangels, but it won't prevent the archangels from being led there. Stefan and Damon agree on that it's only a matter of time before Klaus brings the battle to their doorstep, considering that he probably knows that they are hiding in that house. _

_Damon asks Stefan to find Destiny, with no further information on why. He only says that finding her could be the only way to defeat Klaus. Elena begs Stefan not to go on the crusade and Stefan reluctantly agrees to it, but in the cover of darkness he sneaks out to find Destiny, feeling that he has to do something, that he can't sit idly by and wait for their doom._

_Stefan arrives at heaven, which is for some weird reason completely empty. He enters a corridor with thousands of doors and begins his search for her. After searching for Destiny for a great amount of time, he begins to feel desperate, that Damon has lured him into some trap. It's until he hears Elena's voice when things start to look brighter again. He looks back to see Elena standing in the corridor, but he finally realizes that it's not Elena but Destiny instead. _

_This is where the story continues._


	21. Breaking It Down

**Damon**

_*Eight hours before Stefan left*_

"So do you know why I asked you to meet me?" she asks, twirling a blond strand of hair around her finger.

I look nervously around, searching for any signs of the archangels, oblivious to her question. "You sure that this place is safe?" my eyes wander over the crowded café we were sitting in.

"Relax Klaus has no idea what we're up to. I already told you that his sole focus is on devising a plan on how to ensure that he will survive." She puts her slender hand over mine, capturing my attention.

"And how do I know that you're not setting me up?" I accuse her, but she merely shrugs.

"Well, you don't." her white teeth flashed. "But, Damon, you know that I without my help, you can't win."

"I thought that Klaus had you under his paw."

She rolls her pale blue eyes – "That is what I want him to think."

"So, whose side are you on?" This woman is impossible, I swear. Maybe I am wrong to out my faith in her, the small amount I still have left.

"No one's." she purses her crimson lips. "I am just looking out for myself. Currently, what's best for me is Klaus dead and heaven freed. Damon, I've waited a very long time for this." Destiny's eyes flash, sending shivers down my spine. This woman is dangerous. Sexy in a way, I can't deny that she's hot, but damn, she's scary.

"Do. Not. Screw. This. Up." She puts pressure on my hand, scratching the back of it with a fingernail, drawing blood.

I grimace at the pain – "What do you need me to do?"

Destiny smiles sweetly – "Now we're talking."

"So…" I frown, waiting for her instructions.

"Ooh, cocoa with peppermint syrup!" she exclaims, and only now I notice that there's suddenly a menu in her hands.

"What the hell, we didn't come here to have a cup of cocoa!" I groan, thoroughly annoyed with her.

"I want one." Her face is gleaming like she's a little kid.

"What are you, twelve?" I ask, unable to hide my frustration with her.

"Go get me one and then we'll talk." She nods with her head towards the counter.

"You've got to be kidding me." I mumble when I stand up and go where the bored-looking waitress is currently sitting. When did Damon Salvatore start to serve other people's needs? It's me who should be served I think to myself while the girl is making the hot drink.

I slam the cup on the table, making the liquid slosh over the edge. I earn an angry look from the blonde woman across me.

"Happy?" I sneer when she takes a tentative sip.

"It's okay." Destiny says.

I rub my forehead, shutting my eyes tightly. Why did I agree to this again?

"Humour me, Damon." God, her voice is annoying. Beautiful, but annoying.

"What?" I glance up to look at her.

"I'm bored." She whines.

"Did you ask me here because you're bored?" I can't believe it.

"No. But while you're here, we might as well have a little fun." Her eyebrows rise and she smiles again.

"No."

"What do you mean no?" she drags out the no, making her sound like a petulant child.

"No." I stand up, ready to leave, but she grabs my arm and yanks me back.

"Fine. Maybe Stefan will be more fun." This raises some alarm clocks in my mind.

"What do you want with Stefan?" I ask.

"Oh, didn't I tell you?" there's an evil look to her. "I need you to deliver Stefan to me."

"Why?" My interest is piqued, although to my surprise, the thought of handing my brother over to her nauseates me.

"We need to complete the prophecy before we can make our move against Klaus. You do remember the one missing piece?"

I feel like I'm hit by a ton of bricks.

"I won't do that." My voice is clipped and I clutch the table with my hands, trying to keep myself from launching at her.

"Ah, Damon, but you see…" she pauses, licking her lips. "You are running out of options. And time."

"I can't, I won't do that to Stefan. I might be heartless, but this is too much."

"And here I thought that you fallen folk had no emotions left." she says. "I guess that's not entirely true. Maybe family do come first." She says in a sing-song voice. I feel like ripping her head of right here, right now.

"What do you know about family?"

I still am reeling from the thought of making Stefan go through that. She clearly has no idea what it's like to be a fallen angel. There's nothing in my life. No joy, no feelings, nothing. Only emptiness and the want for destruction. One may think that it would be easy to live like that, having no regrets, but they don't know how it is to live knowing that you once had it all. I had everything I ever wanted – Katherine. And she was ripped away from me so cruelly and too quickly. She left me with memories - memories of happiness, love, and that is not so easily destroyed. So, one may think that I'm soulless, that I don't care for no one, but that is not true, because Katherine left me with a mark that can never be erased no matter how hard I try. And the worst of all is the knowledge that I can't end this, my life. Not before I make Klaus pay.

"I know more than you can think." Destiny's voice brings me back to reality. "But enough of that." she takes another sip from the cup, her eyes never leaving my face. "I thought you wanted revenge on Stefan, this is the perfect opportunity, wouldn't you agree?"

"I did want revenge. I do." I correct myself. "But I thought that killing Elena would be sufficient enough after this ordeal." I smirk. Let my brother go through what I did, that would serve him right. Letting him fall? I don't know. I mean, I want his loved one being ripped away from him, like mine was, that would be satisfying. But when he's fallen and then I kill Elena, it may not have the desired effect.

"But why not let Stefan fall?" Destiny asks. "It would be killing two flies in one shot. We need another fallen angel to complete the prophecy and at the same time you'll get some amount of revenge on your brother. You can kill Elena later."

"I don't know, it's not something I wanted on him." I hesitate.

"Really?" she cocks one eyebrow. "You're telling me that you don't want Stefan to be a fallen angel, because it's too much, however you're willing to kill the love of his life? Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that worse?"

I repeat Destiny's words over and over again in my head. What do I want? In such short amount of time so much has happened with Stefan and Elena, most of it I brought upon them when I entered their lives with the prophecy shit and all.

"Why does it have to be Stefan?" I ignore her last question.

"No reason." Her eyes flash in amusement. "He is the quickest way to achieve what we want. Sure, we could look for another fallen angel, but I'm pretty sure that Klaus has already tracked them down. Stefan is the most obvious choice."

"I need to think this over." I say, trying to buy myself more time.

"No, Damon. You don't have a choice." She smiles sweetly, although her whole demeanour changes from being at ease to being angry in a second. "Bring me Stefan."

"What if I don't?"

"Then you'll never get what you want. Remember, Damon, you have no idea what I'm capable of and you already know that I am basically your only shot for winning this war. You have two days." Destiny says, and I detect a hidden threat behind her words.

She stands up and turns to leave.

"Thanks for the cocoa." She calls before exiting the café.

I slam my head against the table, which draws some unwanted attention to me, but I don't care. All I can think of right now is what I have to do to my baby brother.

* * *

**Elena**

_*Present time*_

I wake up to loud noises coming from the living room. I hide my head in the pillow, hoping that it will pass soon, because I want to sleep more; this is the first night after Jeremy's death that I had a good night's sleep. I turn to look at Stefan, but when I open my eyes he's not there. I jolt upright with a gut wrenching feeling that something is terribly wrong.

"Stefan?" I call tentatively, giving myself some false hope that maybe he can hear me, but in my heart I know that he can't. I'm right, because he doesn't answer.

I scramble off the bed, throwing my clothes on in a hurry and I almost run to the living room where I discover Damon demolishing the room. The red sofa has been torn to pieces, the wallpaper which was ratty to begin with has been completely ripped off the walls, the small wooden coffee table that was in the middle of the room looks like someone tried to torch it and then there are those gaping holes in the walls.

Damon is standing near the fireplace with the biggest hammer I've ever seen ready to give the fireplace its death-blow.

"Damon," I croak, my throat is so dry. "What are you doing? Where's Stefan?"

"The bastard went." He mumbles. "Damn him, why can't he be selfish for once?" he raises his voice and with that also the hammer, giving the stony structure a hard blow, making half of the fireplace crumble down in dust.

I cross my hands over my chest, feeling cold all of a sudden. "What are you talking about?" I take a hesitant step towards Damon.

"Stefan!" he yells, and I'm taken aback by the look on his face – it's crazed. There are also several cuts on his arms like he had been trying to destroy the things in the room with bare hands.

"Damon, what did you do?" I feel myself starting to shiver, not with cold, with fear.

He runs his hands through his hair, dropping the hammer on the floor, the thud of the impact echoes in the room. "I let him leave." He whispers. "I just stood there and let him leave and I gave him a fucking pep-talk on how I'm glad that his leaving when it wasn't fucking true." His voice is again scarily loud and he kicks the rest of the fireplace with his boot, making a few stones fall out.

"Y-y-you let him leave?" I stutter, "What does that mean?" Although I already know the answer and Damon's response is a mirror image of my thoughts.

"You know what I meant." He says and turns to look at me.

"Why?" I barely manage to get out.

"Because I had to, Elena!" he snaps, "Because that's the only way we're going to beat Klaus, because that is the only way we're going to survive!" he's now pacing back and forth.

I can feel my knees giving in, I need to sit down before I fall down, but there's no other seating option than the red sofa and that has been torn to shreds by Damon so I try hang on, but I can feel how my body is shivering, my lungs are so deprived of air and the back of my eyes are starting to sting with tears.

"How could he?" I cry out, the first tears are starting to fall down on my cheeks. He promised he wouldn't leave me. How could he do that to me?

"That's my brother for you, always trying to do the right thing even though it might cost him his life." Damon stops for a second and looks at me with empty eyes, then he continues his pacing.

"His life?" I panic, I can't breathe. "What did you do, Damon?" my knees buckle and I fall down on the floor, hyperventilating.

"We need another fallen angel, Elena." He says like it's obvious. I feel bile rising up to my throat. No. This is impossible, it can't happen. I won't let it happen. There's no way.

"No…" My voice comes out strangled and hopeless. I take a few big intakes of air before I'm even able to talk some more – "Why Stefan?" I ask, tears are now streaming freely from my eyes, and I don't even bother to wipe them away, knowing it would be no use.

Damon lowers his head – "The prophecy said that two fallen angels are needed. He's the fastest way. Or else we would've had to search for a fallen angel. Sacrificing Stefan is much easier."

"Easier?" the earlier hopelessness is beginning to be replaced by anger. "Easier?" I shout, "Sacrificing Stefan's life is easier?" I struggle back on my feet, glaring at Damon who is not willing to look at me. "How could you?" I'm losing it. "He's your brother!" I scream, finding my confidence.

Damon stops the pacing and finally wills himself to look at me, anger in his eyes.

"I know that!" He stomps over to me, towering over me with his body, his face contorted in something that I can only consider to be pain. "You have no right to tell me what's right or wrong or what is easy or not. Did you really think that I'd give Stefan's life away like that?" he snaps his fingers. "I didn't have a fucking choice!"

"You always have a choice." I counter, not afraid of him. Not anymore.

"Not in this." He argues and steps away from me and I release a breath I didn't know I was holding.

"We have to get to Destiny before it's too late. We have to get to Stefan." I say, deciding it's not worth to argue with Damon.

He barks a laugh – "Get him? And how are you going to do that?"

"With your help."

"No way, besides I can't get into heaven." He picks up the hammer again. "What's done is done. Now we wait."

I stand there, frozen. I can see Damon moving his lips but I can't make out the words, all I can hear is my own laboured breathing.

I finally snap out of it.

"You heartless son of a bitch!" I scream, launching at him with the intention to scratch his eyes out, but before I manage to lay a single finger on him I feel a darkness clouding my mind and the last thing I hear is Damon's icy voice – "Sweet dreams, Elena."

* * *

**Stefan**

We enter one of the thousands of doors that are lining the corridor. I hesitate before entering.

"Aren't you coming?" Destiny's melodious voice asks.

"Yeah." I mumble, but I get a strange feeling that something is not right. I walk through the door behind Destiny and the first step I take is into complete darkness.

"Um, what is this?" I call out; my eyes aren't adjusting as fast as I would like and I really don't want to walk into god knows what.

"Just follow my voice." I hear her, but I can't see her. Did it come from the right? No, it must have been from the left. I am not sure.

"Can't you turn on the lights or something?" I laugh nervously, taking a small step forward. I sigh in relief when I feel solid ground under my feet. I look back to make sure that the door behind me is still there, but I can't make it out. It's safe to say that this situation is starting to freak me out.

"Stefan." I hear my name being called.

"Where are you?" I shout, groping in the dark. One step at a time, I tell myself. I walk a few feet then I stop again. "Destiny?" something is definitely wrong.

"I'm here." Her voice is coming from behind me. I spin around. It's still too damn dark in here.

"If this is one of your games, I'm really not in the mood right now." I squint my eyes, hoping to make out a shape, anything to help me get by, but nothing. Just darkness.

"No, this is not a game." She sings, now it's coming from the left. I turn around. I think I saw a flash of blonde hair but I can't be too sure.

"Yeah, not a game." I mumble. "What is it then?" I say, now with a louder voice. I hear another burst of laughter.

A peal of laughter echoes around the room, it's everywhere, to my left, to the right, behind me, in front of me. I start to panic. I run aimlessly around, hoping to see something, but to no avail.

"This is your downfall." The cold voice coming from behind me is frightening. I spin around and I see a pair of pale blue eyes and then I feel a sharp jolt of pain in my whole body. I want to scream but I can't find my voice. I want to run, but my legs won't obey me. The pain keeps getting worse and worse until it's unbearable, but I can't do anything. It's like my whole being is being ripped away from me.

I see flashes of my childhood in my head, the good times and the bad; I see Damon and then Elena. I feel her warmth for a fleeting moment before it's ripped away from me, I can hear her laughter, smell her scent, but even those things are being supressed to the dark corners of my mind. All I can think of is how much I love her and how I never got to tell her that, but even that thought is torn away from me.

Finally there's nothing left. No feelings, nothing.

I raise my head and I can finally see. There's nothing clouding my eyes anymore.

Destiny is smiling devilishly and her eyes are raking over me, she's admiring her handiwork.

"Now, Stefan, you're ready to play."

* * *

**Sooo, some of you had figured this out a long time ago, at least you voiced your suspicions in the reviews, which made me happy. :) This was the plan all along and I'm so glad that I managed to get this far, couldn't done it without you. This marks the beginning of the second part of the story, we'll see how it goes. :)**

**Oh and I wanted to answer to everyone's reviews but unfortunately some of you had private messaging disabled and some of you were anonymous - so let me express my gratitude over here - seriously, I can't thank you enough for reading this, you are the best!**


	22. Emotion I've Destroyed

**Elena**

"Is she alive?" a melodious voice breaks through the haze I'm in. The voice is distant however, and I can't seem pinpoint where it's coming from and whom it belongs to.

"No I killed her, just for fun." The question is followed by a sarcastic answer. Is that...Damon?

"Jeez, no need to be so rude." I'm confused - who is that? I want to wake up, but my body refuses to co-operate with me. It's a struggle in my mind, it won't allow me to get access to the parts I want to, especially the one which lets me to open my eyes. "I was just asking."

Although I can't open my eyes, I definitely can feel someone hovering over me, it's like someone's piercing through my skin and sees into the deepest parts of me.

"She's awake, you moron." The same sing-song voice says.

"Oh goody." Damon's voice reaches my ears; I can imagine him doing the eye-roll. "What took her so long?"

I can hear a shuffling of feet and the scraping of a chair against the floorboards. The steps are coming towards me and then there's a slight pressure on my forehead. Quick as a flash I regain control over myself, over my body. My eyes open and I inhale loudly, the big gulp of air burns my lungs like a fire and I start coughing. My eyes water and I can't distinguish the people standing before me. One is certainly Damon, but the other one?

"What... happened?" I finally manage to ask, propping myself upright on the bed I was lying on.

"You were annoying, went into hysterics, I took care of it." I look up to see Damon's cocky smirk, he says it all like he's proud of himself.

"What?" I don't remember much, only that...oh my god. Suddenly everything starts to flood back in – Stefan, his leaving, everything.

I feel the familiar panic starting to set in again in the pit of my stomach. I look around the room, ready to run wherever I can but it's then when I finally acknowledge another person with Damon in the room.

She's beautiful I think to myself. Her blonde hair would make any woman jealous and her face is something like of a supermodel, but what are strange about her are her eyes – so cold and so empty.

"W-w-who are you?" I stutter, unable to control my voice.

The woman smiles, making the hair on hands stand up – "We haven't officially met. My name is Destiny."

I feel like I'm punched in the stomach.

I stand up and walk over to her. I've only known the woman for five seconds and already I can feel the hatred for her. "Where's Stefan?" I ask, and no matter how weak I feel right now; I can't let her see it.

"Oh, he's somewhere." Destiny responds, licking her lips in a smug way. I seriously want to punch her in the face.

Damon comes behind me and grabs my shoulders – "Elena, it would be wiser not to provoke her."

I shrug him off and send him a dirty look.

"I want to see Stefan." I almost stomp my feet like a petulant child.

I glance between Damon and Destiny. Damon's face is a mixture of worry and... pain? Could it be? Destiny is observing me with a slight smile, she's definitely pleased with herself.

"Where is he?" I raise my voice.

I see that I won't get any answers out of those two, Damon looks like he's going to bite someone's head off soon and Destiny is enjoying the current situation way too much.

I make my way out of between them and enter the living room. I stop abruptly when I see what has happened to the room – it's in complete ruins, there's basically nothing left, only a few broken stones from the fireplace are lying on the floor, looking unhappy and lonely.

I swallow down the lump in my throat – "Stefan?" I yell and walk through the destruction.

"Stefan?" I search every room, but he's nowhere. "Stefan, please, if you can hear me..." my voice dies before I can end the sentence.

"He's not here, Elena."

I jump back from the sudden voice behind me and my heart is pounding like crazy from fright.

"Damon..." I gasp, turning around, holding my hand over my chest. He's looking at me strangely, like I'm going to break into thousand pieces.

"Where is he? What h-happened?" I start to realize that something is wrong.

"Please don't freak out?" he voices it like a question.

"Freak out? Freak out? Damon, if I don't get any answers I will most definitely freak out!"

He looks to his right, frowning, like his contemplating something.

"Uh, so... remember when I told you we needed a second fallen angel?"

My face drops at his words and I can feel myself breaking down, slowly but surely. Damon sees that, it reflects in his face.

"Well, Destiny took care of that. Stefan fell."

I shake my head - no, no, no, no I think to myself. I knew that Damon sent Stefan to Destiny with that plan, but I didn't think that it would actually happen. I still had a sliver of hope left in me, that maybe, just maybe this was just a horrible nightmare and Stefan will be okay, that this won't happen, that maybe I dreamed everything.

I wrap my arms around my body, as if they could protect me from all the emotions that are starting to assault me.

"How could you?" I whisper, recalling our previous conversation when I asked him the same question.

"I didn't have a choice." His answer echoes the one he gave me the last time.

"Where is he?" I croak, fighting the tears.

"They showed up here two days ago..." Damon pauses.

Wait, two days? Was I really out that long?

"Elena, he's not Stefan anymore, not the one you knew. Hell, even I barely recognized that man."

"Two days?" my voice is barely audible. "Why didn't you wake me?"

"Well, I knocked you out the same way I did Jeremy." The mention of Jeremy brings another wave of pain and grief over me. I have no idea, if I'm able to survive this.

Damon smirks a little, and I see the evil side of him for a second. I wonder if Damon is capable of controlling himself, will Stefan be able, too?

"I expected you to wake up just as your brother did, but you didn't, and you weren't responsive, so I didn't know what to do. I left you like that." He says it like it's no big deal. "But Destiny here is a sly little bitch, I don't know how, but she managed to bring you back from whatever state you were in and here you are." He gesticulates with his hands.

"You didn't answer my question." I'm holding onto myself so tightly that my arms are beginning to hurt, but I can't let go or I'll just crumble into dust.

"I don't know where he is." Damon says. "He left as quickly as he got here and left that psycho here."

"Now that's no way to talk about a lady." Destiny saunters in, her long hair flowing behind her.

Damon rolls his eyes in annoyance – "I see no ladies here, no offence Elena."

I just shake my head.

Destiny ignores Damon's comment – "Stefan will be back shortly." She looks straight at me. "But I don't expect him to be happy to see you." Destiny walks next to me and puts her lips close to my ear.

"You see," she whispers, "I took Stefan and I rebuilt him. Stripped him down to the core, took away every piece of love, compassion, every piece of good that was in him, away. I'd say he's better now. After all, love is overrated and hurts like a bitch."

Her hand squeezes my shoulder painfully as she finishes, and then she walks away from me, laughing.

* * *

**Stefan**

Damon said that when angels fall, they lose everything that made them who they once were. He made it sound like it was a bad thing.

Everything he said was basically bullshit, because honestly, I feel great. I feel free even, I don't have to worry about anyone, I can't hear the annoying angel radio thingy in my mind anymore which usually drove me crazy and what I like the most is that I don't have to care.

The world is mine and I intend to revel in it.

So why am I back at this stupid little godforsaken house which Damon used to call home?

I already know what to expect – Damon looking like he swallowed something hot and now it's burning its way down to his stomach, Destiny acting like a five-year old and Elena – oh god – I don't even want to imagine the crying festival and the endless lectures about feelings and that shit, that's going to be thrown at me.

I take a look behind me, making sure that no one followed me here , because, holy crap, what will happen to everyone if Klaus were to show up – ugh, whatever, I really don't care. Well, I would be lying if I'd say that I don't care at all – of course I care about my own life, and that would be cut short if the war was brought to the doorstep right now.

I enter the dusty building, grimacing at how ugly and old everything in the house is. Why do we have to stay here, now?

I can hear voices coming from a room to my right, I can even make out some words they're saying - _"Elena, he's not Stefan anymore, not the one you knew. Hell, even I barely recognized that man." _

I smile to myself – good, the old Stefan was a bore.

I don't bother listening any further, it's probably some melodramatic lecture of how much I've changed and those why's and how's just make my head hurt.

I start to make my way to the living room – I guess you can't call it that anymore, since Damon basically tore it down – when Destiny steps out of nowhere and gives me a knowing smile which I don't return. Seriously – why would I? It's not like I like the woman. Sure, she's hot, but her personality – give me a break, I've never met a more crazy person in my life.

"_Now that's no way to talk about a lady."_ I hear Destiny saying, I don't even want to understand what she's trying to do. I should start thinking what _I _want to accomplish. It's definitely not staying here, but according to the blonde and highly irritating woman – I, Damon and Elena are the ones from the prophecy and if I wish to save my own ass from getting sent to hell, I'd better help them defeat Klaus.

Okay, I can do that. Klaus is dead, problems solved; I can get away from here. One thing is sure that I will never ever return to this wretched city that is Mystic Falls. The bare thought of living here makes me shudder.

I hear Destiny's laugh, I wonder what was so funny and I have to admit that she does have a nice laughter. So did Elena.

Wait, what?

I shake off the ridiculous thought that just came to me.

"Stefan?" I hear Damon's voice behind me.

I turn around a give him the fakest smile I can manage, he responds with a grimace.

"I see you found your way back here." Damon says.

"Yep." Why bother making full sentences?

"Elena has been asking about you."

"Oh? And what did you tell her?" I'm actually very curious about that.

"That you're not worth her time, but she won't give up." He looks behind his shoulder. "Oh, see, there she is. I'll leave you two to talk." Damon says and leaves the room; I have the sudden urge to bang my head against a wall.

"Stefan?" her voice is hoarse like she's trying to keep it all together.

"Elena."

"I...I..." she begins, it's kind of funny even, how she's at loss of words.

"Are you okay?" she finally asks.

I smile, now a genuinely – "I'm perfect."

I don't know what she sees in me, but her face hardens at my response and I can almost feel the pain she's in. I remember those times when I could basically feel everything she did – Frankly, I don't miss them all.

"Is there something you wanted?" I ask, hoping that she'll leave soon.

Unfortunately, she doesn't leave. Instead she takes two long strides and grabs my arm, which I immediately want to yank back but for some odd reason my body won't let me.

"Do you feel that?" she whispers, looking straight into my eyes.

"Feel what?" I ask, confused.

"This. Us." She squeezes my hand and a jolt of electricity runs through it. Now I do pull my hand back.

"Don't you remember, Stefan?" her voice is desperate. "Every time we touch I feel it. It's like my whole body is filled with electricity. And you used to feel it too." She wants to grab my hand again, but I step back and I can see the hurt in her eyes, in her whole body - it slumps visibly and a tear rolls on her cheek, which she quickly wipes away with the back of her hand.

"I feel nothing." I say. "I feel nothing for you, and what I did once feel... it made me weak. It didn't let me see things clearly, but now I do. I don't have people telling me what's right or what's wrong, now it is _I_ who get to make decisions for myself, not you, not Damon. Me. And the electricity thing – I do remember it, but I don't feel it anymore, and honestly, I really don't care."

I watch as Elena lowers her head in defeat – I got to hand it to her, I didn't think she would be able to handle this so well, I expected moaning and crying and begging, I guess grief does make people stronger.

"Fine, Stefan. Whatever." She tells me and walks away.

* * *

**Damon**

I heard the whole exchange between Stefan and Elena. I didn't know what to expect from my baby brother, who has apparently completely lost it, so I decided to stick around in case he decides to hurt an important piece of the prophecy – that is Elena. And he did ask me to keep her safe, although I didn't exactly say yes to him, but I do think that I owe it to Stefan, at least to the old Stefan. So I intend to keep Elena safe from everyone – except from me, of course, I still think that maybe I'll just get rid of her in the end, just to clear up any loose ends, but we'll see. For now, I'll _try_ to be nice to her, even if it's a stretch. She truly can be annoying. I still don't get what Stefan saw in her.

Oh, and one other thing I don't get is why the fuck is Destiny sticking around here. She's been literally driving me insane with her stupid little games and attempts to be cute. I can tell you, she's not. Maybe if I get the weapon from Klaus, I can kill her too, would be a good riddance.

Stefan is worse than I thought he would be. I didn't consider that his whole being was built upon his emotions, his feelings, it makes him who he was and now when those are gone – he's just a shell and a dick.

When I fell, I guess you could say I was the same – I enjoyed the feeling of being free, the feeling of being able to do whatever you want, because that's what angels feel when they fall. That feeling lasts for a decade or two, and then comes the worst part, the want for destruction, death. I can't even recall how many lives have I ruined just because I needed to break something, how many lives I destroyed. I snapped out of it after 100 years, and that is a very long time.

After that the memories start to flood in – of your past life. Mine were about Katherine, about Stefan, our childhood and that was when I let myself feel again a little. The want for death and chaos is still there, but what are keeping me at bay are those memories – I hold on to them and I channel all that rage through them into the plan of revenge.

But more than a hundred years is a very long time.

And whether I like to admit it or not, I still care about Stefan. That is why I am going to save him – the prophecy promised salvation to one of the fallen one through the other and I am intending to make sure that Stefan is the one who's getting it, not me. He deserves it more.

"Hey, Stefan?" I walk over to him after Elena leaves.

He groans – "If you're here to give me another lecture, then you can forget it."

"No." I say pointedly. I step closer to him and lower my voice – "Did you get it?"

Stefan smiles devilishly – "Yes."

He takes the small bottle out of his jacket pocket and shows it, when I want to take it he pulls it away from my reach – "Not so fast." He clicks with his tongue which annoys me to beyond reason.

"C'mon, Stef, I'm not going to run away with it." I glare at him.

He bursts out laughing – "I was just kidding, here take it." And he fucking throws it in the air. Fortunately, I have good reflexes.

"Are you out of your mind?" I can't help but to raise my voice. "What if I hadn't caught it?"

"Relax, brother." He pats me on my shoulder. "I had faith in you." The tone of his voice is dripping with sarcasm.

"Dick." I mumble, examining the small bottle. It's cold to the touch and the red liquid sloshes in it when I twirl the bottle in my hands.

"Oh crap, the psycho is here." Stefan whispers, adopting the same word I used for Destiny before.

"I heard that, by the way." All the playfulness in her voice is gone. "Where is it?" she turns to Stefan, looking expectantly at him.

Stefan nods at me.

I show her the bottle; she immediately tries to snatch it out of my hands. But as I said – I have good reflexes and Destiny doesn't succeed.

"Not before you tell us what's it for." I narrow my eyes. Stefan steps next to me and together we form a kind of wall against the woman.

"Yeah. Tell us." Stefan smiles, but the smile is vindictive.

"You do know that I could wipe the floor with the two of you?" Destiny points her finger at me and Stefan.

"You do know that we really don't care?" Stefan retorts and I'd like to give him a high-five.

"Ugh, fine." She grimaces, her eyes flashing. "The bottle contains a liquid which administered to an archangel immobilizes him or her for a minute or so."

I look to Stefan, who is as equally amazed by this piece of news as I am.

"So this is thingy," I shake the bottle, "Is basically the only way for us to beat Klaus?"

"Yes, better start devising a plan." Destiny says and grabs the bottle from me with speed I didn't know she possessed.

"For safekeeping." She says and then she's gone.

* * *

**Sorry for the lack of Stelena, I promise the next chapter will have more of them. **

**Thanks for reading and until next time! :)**


	23. Can't release you from my heart

**Elena**

The worst pain a person can endure is not physical, it's emotional. When someone takes everything from you and stomps over it, leaving you no chance to protect yourself. You are stripped of any walls you may have once raised, any hope you had, and the moment you feel everything being torn away from you, is the worst.

Yesterday, when I laid my eyes on Stefan, I still had a flicker of hope that when he raises his head, I will see those warm green eyes.

The reality was much different – they were the same colour, yes, but the emotion behind them was gone, all that was left were those big, endless pools of emptiness. Even his face was different – harder, colder. The way he held himself – he probably didn't know that he was doing that, but I could see it immediately – was rigid, like someone had ripped his wings from him and his body was reminding him that with every movement. Stefan was hardly recognizable.

"_I feel nothing for you…" _ I go over his words in my head at least a few thousand times until they are etched so deep into my brain with every single detail – the tone of his voice, the way his eyes narrowed slightly, the way he said those words with such ease. And the more I go back to that moment, the more I am convinced that every word Stefan said to me, was a lie. I refuse to believe that the old Stefan, my Stefan, is completely gone. I can't let myself admit that, because what would be left of me, if I did?

When I grabbed his arm I could still feel it, the electricity, and I was so relieved to know that. Stefan said that he didn't feel it, but I know for sure that he did. The way his muscles clenched under my grip when I squeezed his arm, and how he quickly pulled away, was confirmation enough.

Stefan was afraid of that feeling. That is why he lashed out on me, I'm sure. He wanted to make me think that there's nothing left of him, but the cruel, angry shell that he tries so hard to be, but I know better. Somewhere deep down is the man I love, and I intend to bring him back, whatever it takes.

* * *

Love, yes. I have come to the realization that I am in love with him. As short as our time together has been, I have never been this sure about something in my life. I love him, and there's nothing that could destroy that feeling in me, even if Stefan himself tries to do that.

This is why I have to fight. Fight for him, for me, because if I don't do that, who will?

* * *

Stefan is sitting with his legs on the table when I walk into the kitchen. I swallow down the lump in my throat and make my way to the counter which is stacked with food; I'm guessing Damon brought all this stuff here.

I can feel his eyes on me.

"What?" I ask, turning around.

Stefan smirks and I have the urge to slap that off his face. "Nothing."

"Nothing?" I ask incredulously.

"Yep." He answers and averts his eyes, looking into distance.

"Where's your brother?" I haven't seen Damon around the whole day.

"Don't know. Don't particularly care either."

I take a deep breath, and sit down on the chair directly across Stefan. I align myself so that I can see past his feet which are still on the table. "There was a time when you would have done anything for your brother. For me." I say.

Stefan meets my gaze and I almost flinch back by the hostility of it. "Your point being?"

"That there are people who are willing to do the same for you." I can swear that his face softens for a second, but then he reverts back to his cold self.

"I'd say that those people are dumb for trying to do something that's impossible." His voice is clipped.

"You may think so, but that doesn't mean that I'm not going to try."

"Really?" he raises his eyebrows, "And how exactly are you going to do that?"

I take a minute to think over everything. How am I going to bring him back? I come up with nothing.

"I don't know yet." I confess, lowering my eyes.

Stefan barks out a laugh – "Figures." He mumbles.

"Why are you so adamant on staying like this?" I ask, pointing at him with my hand.

Stefan glares at me like I've asked the stupidest question ever – "Because I am better like this. Stronger. My head is clear and I don't have to care about anyone else but myself."

"You're not better like this." I whisper, not daring to look at him. "You're not."

"That's your opinion."

I meet his cold green eyes - "Yes it is." I state, "And whatever you may say to me..." I pause, choosing carefully my words, "Won't stop me from trying to save you from yourself."

Anger flashes in Stefan's bottomless eyes.

He swishes his feet off the table and slams his hands against the wood. He leans over it and his face is only bare inches away from me – "I don't want you to try." He whispers. "I don't _need _saving." And with that he walks away.

* * *

**Stefan**

Who the hell does she think she is? What gives her the right to come here and give me a lecture?

God, I am so angry right now.

I punch the wall with my fist – once, twice, the third time I can feel the pain and there's blood trickling down my knuckles.

I pace back and forth in the already destroyed living room and fight the urge to give the wall another good hard kick.

I almost am ready to deliver another punch to the wall when the source of my anger enters the room.

"Stefan, what are you doing?" Elena asks, frowning, her voice concerned.

"Elena…" I growl, "Leave." I command her, but of course she doesn't listen to me and instead, takes a few steps towards me.

"You're bleeding, Stefan." Her eyes are glued to my hand.

"So what?" I snap, irritated.

Elena says nothing but runs to the kitchen, she's back in a heartbeat carrying a towel with her, she walks over to me, grabs my hands and presses the towel against my knuckles. That is when I feel it - the current flowing through my arm and my whole body.

I jump back abruptly.

"Don't touch me." I snarl.

Elena looks at me, hurt. I swear if she's going to cry, I will lose it.

"Let me help you." Her voice is shaky.

"I don't want your help." I retort.

"Then why are you still here?" She raises her voice – "Leave, if you hate being here so much, just leave!" she's now yelling.

"Oh, I will leave. Once we get this Klaus business out of the way. I mean, my ass is on the line too."

She blinks a few times, weighing my words. "You're here…" Elena begins, at least she's not screaming anymore. "…because you want to kill Klaus?"

"Duh." I say, "It's not like I would be able to live my life while being hunted by a revengeful archangel."

Elena purses her lips; I can almost see the wheels turning in her head. Suddenly her face lights up as she realizes something, she raises her head and looks at me with a strange expression which I can't read.

"What?" I snap, when she doesn't stop staring at me.

"I have to go find Damon."

What? Damon? What does she want with my brother?

"Why Damon?" I suddenly feel something in my chest, a nasty feeling which is chewing its way through me. Could it be? No… I slap myself mentally. It's not possible. Jealousy? I can't possibly feel_ that._

"Why so curious?" Elena tilts her head. "I thought you weren't supposed to care."

I shake off the feeling – "I don't."

Elena gives me one last glance and now it is her who walks away.

I punch the wall again.

* * *

**Elena**

When Stefan said that he is here now because he is going to help us kill Klaus, something in me clicked. Suddenly, the words from the prophecy ringed in my head - _One fallen shall be the redemption of the other."_

Damon is a fallen angel and so is Stefan. I need a way to save Stefan and I think I have found it. Now it is only the matter of finding and convincing Damon.

I search through every room, but with no success, he's nowhere to be seen. I am almost giving up but then my eyes fall on the door which leads to the cellar.

Could it be?

I hesitantly open the door which lets out a loud creaking sound when I push it more open, I take the first step into the darkness, wishing I had Stefan to hold on to like I did when I first entered this room. I grope the cold slick walls around me, trying to make my way down the stairs, I almost slip on one step, but fortunately I manage to stay upright.

When my feet finally meet solid ground I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. I try to look around the cellar hoping to see Damon here, but my eyes aren't adjusting as fast as I would like them to.

"Damon?" I squeak, flailing around with my hands to make sure I don't walk into something.

"You're going to walk into a shelf if you take another step." A gruff voice sounds behind me.

I spin abruptly around. "Damon?" I think I see a man's shape, but I'm not sure.

"What do you want?" Damon's voice is tired.

"I know how to bring Stefan back." I say, letting a bit of excitement lace my voice.

"Oh, please, do enlighten me." He quips. Is there a bottle in his hands?

"Are you drunk?" I can't help asking.

"Maybe." I can't see it but I'm pretty sure he is smirking.

"I should leave." I say, it might not be a good idea to talk to Damon while he's in that condition.

I start to turn around but before I can take even one step he grabs my arm – "No, wait."

Damon is standing quite close to me now and I can finally see him – his hair is dishevelled and his whole body screams of tiredness.

"How long have you been down here?" I ask.

"I came down here yesterday after Destiny left." – He rubs his forehead and inhales sharply.

"Why?"

Damon sits back on the chair I'm guessing he was residing when I came in, I stay in my position, afraid to move because the stuff that may fall on me if I knock something over.

"Honestly? I really can't stand Stefan right now." He takes a sip from the bottle.

"Tell me about it." I roll my eyes.

"So what's your plan, Elena? You know I heard everything that went down between the two of you before you decided to come looking for me. Gotta hand it to you – you are dealing with the whole situation pretty well." He raises the bottle in toast.

I ignore his comment and get right to the point – "When Stefan mentioned that he is staying here just because he wants to get rid of Klaus, I remembered something. The line from the prophecy – "_One fallen shall be the..."_

"_Redemption of the other." _Damon interrupts, "Yadda yadda, I already know that."

"You do?" I am unable to hide the surprise in my tone of voice.

"Of course I do." He snaps. "What, did you really think that I'll let my little brother stay like this?"

"So... you're up for it?" I ask.

"Unless it's Stefan who saves me." Damon states.

The blood in my veins freezes. I open my mouth to say something, but nothing comes out. I take a deep breath and finally manage to whisper – "I'm willing to take that risk."

Damon stays silent and after a while it almost becomes unbearable. I start to think that maybe I should leave but when I begin to walk away - this time with more confidence as my eyes are adjusted to the darkness – his voice stops me again. – "Can you recall the rest of the prophecy?" he asks.

I frown – "Of course." I'll never forget those lines.

"The last two lines then." He commands. "Please." He adds in a condescending manner.

"Why?" I ask, but when I see his annoyed glare, I submit – "Fine – _two will flourish, one will perish."_

Damon raises his eyebrows, waiting for me to put the pieces together.

"Oh my god." I cover my mouth with my hand when I realize what those lines mean.

Damon slowly claps his hands together – "Congratulations, Elena, you figured it out."

"One of us won't survive." My voice is barely audible and I take a staggering step back, my back hitting something hard, fortunately nothing comes raining down on me.

"Yep. That's the harsh truth."

"Do we have any way of knowing who will die?" My heart is beating so fast and my hands are starting to shake.

"That's the beauty of it, we don't." He purses his lips – "But if Stefan was himself, my guess would be that he would have sacrificed himself, being the martyr that he is. Sorry, was."

"I... I have to go." I feel like suffocating in here. I turn around and start making my way through all the boxes and shelves.

"Hey, Elena?" Damon's voice rings behind me.

I stop, but I don't turn to face him – "Yeah?"

"If it comes down to killing Klaus, are you willing to sacrifice yourself if needed?"

Jeremy's lifeless body flashes before my eyes and I don't hesitate with my answer – "Yes I am."

* * *

**Klaus**

"Where is it?" I ask when she enters the room, her lips curved into an annoying smile.

She puts her hands into her jacket pocket and pulls out the little bottle. I am immediately on my feet, reaching out my hand for it.

"Tsk, tsk, not so fast, dear." She sings.

"Destiny, I don't have time or the patience for your games. Give me the bottle." I growl.

"Not before you tell me what you want from it. Seeing as this was the Salvatores' only chance of defeating you."

"I am just securing my back. There's no harm in taking precautions. Now, give it to me, sweetheart."

I can see that she parts reluctantly from the bottle, but her fear of me is too strong to defy me. I turn my back to her and examine the vial. I am amazed of how a little drop of this liquid could do so much damage to me.

"Did they suspect anything?" I ask while twirling the container in my hands.

"No." Destiny's voice is alarmingly close to my ear.

I spin around and she's practically glued to my back – "Would you stop that?" I snarl, taking a step away from her.

"You're such a prude, Klaus." She pouts but it turns into a devilish smile in a second – "C'mon, I know some ways we could have fun." Destiny saunters closer to me, her hips swaying with every step.

"Not interested."

"Why not?" She whines. "I did everything you asked for, I want something in return."

"When this is all over, then you'll get your prize."

I put the small bottle in the inner pocket of my jacket where I also keep the blade. It's always better to keep those things that can destroy you close to you.

"That reminds me, why did you want Stefan to fall?" Destiny asks, "The prophecy clearly stated two fallen angels and they only had one, and you just let Stefan fall? I'm curious, what's the plan?"

I sit back down on the same chair I was sitting on before Destiny entered this office. It's not as lavish as I'm used to, but ever since I decided to put heaven on lockdown, I had to make some changes, including my office which is now situated in the farthest corner of heaven. The walls are plain white and so is the floor, whoever created this atrocious room had no taste whatsoever, but I guess I just have to get used to it, at least until I know the threat is gone.

"I needed to get rid of Stefan's feelings." I state, matter-of-factly. "Without them, he doesn't pose that big of a threat. If he still loved that girl, then I'd be more afraid. Stefan just doesn't have a reason to fight anymore."

"But he does." Destiny frowns – "He still wants to kill you, you know, because he thinks that his life is in danger."

"Oh, I know that. I _expected _that. He just won't fight that hard anymore, therefore he is easier to get rid of." I smile, imagining Stefan, Damon and Elena's cold corpses before me.

"You are evil, Klaus." Destiny grins and skips next to me; she rests her elbow on the back of the chair and looks straight into my eyes.

"Oh, I know that." I smirk.

"So, when are you going to attack?" she asks.

"Soon, darling, very soon."

* * *

**Stefan**

I am lying on the bed, trying to get some rest when I hear footsteps approaching. I groan silently, preparing myself for another annoying talk either with Elena or Damon.

"Where's your girlfriend?" Damon asks as he makes his way into the bedroom I have been using.

"If you're referring to Elena, who is by the way, not my girlfriend, then she's probably asleep, seeing as it is almost four in the morning."

"I see." Damon examines a trinket from the bedside table.

"Is there a point to your visit, brother?" I ask. Why can't they just leave me alone?

"We need to make a move, and fast." His voice is concerned. "I don't think we have much time left. I need you to find Destiny, so we could at least have some kind of a chance of winning this."

I prop myself upright, meeting Damon's icy blue eyes.

"Why do I need to find Destiny? I can't even get into heaven anymore." I can't keep the boredom out of my voice. This conversation is going nowhere.

"You found her before," Damon points his finger at me, "I figured you could do it again."

"I really don't think she wants to be found." I smirk.

"What do you mean?" Damon does this thing with his eyebrows when he is confused. I laugh.

"You really thought that she could be trusted? C'mon brother." I stand up and give him a pat on his back. "I wouldn't trust that bitch even if she was my sister."

"Stefan..." Damon warns. "Tell me what you know."

"I'm pretty sure that she is working with Klaus." I say nonchalantly.

"What?!" Damon almost yells.

"She really did wrap you around her little finger. I'm disappointed, Damon."

Anger flashes in Damon's eyes and suddenly I am pressed against the wall, with Damon's hands around my throat.

"Whoa, easy there." I bark out a laugh although it comes out more like a cough.

"Spill it." Damon snarls.

"Okay, okay. Let me go, and then I'll talk."

"No. You're going to tell me everything you know right now before I break your neck." He threatens and I can see that he is not kidding.

"Jeez, okay then." I can feel my lungs start to burn. "When Destiny sent me to go after the bottle which supposedly can immobilize an archangel, I did a little research of my own. The place where she sent me – some kind of a holy place near the cemetery of Mystic Falls, I don't really care – could only be entered by fallen angels. That was why I had to do it. Although, she should have sent you, seeing as you're so smitten by her." I cough again.

"Get to the point." Damon growls.

"Well I found some really old books, and by old I mean almost ancient, which talked about the archangels and liquid we saw in the bottle. Turns out it is the blood of the very first archangel, the one everyone in heaven has forgotten, except for Klaus." Damon slightly releases his hold on my throat; I have completely captured his attention.

"See, when the archangels were created, God had made sure that there was a fail-safe against them, just in case they got out of hand. He chose the one archangel he trusted the most – Esther. And from her blood the poison for archangels was made."

"What happened to her?" Damon now releases me completely.

I rub my throat – "No one knows. She disappeared along with God. How else could Klaus have so much power?"

"How do you know that Destiny is working with Klaus?"

"Oh, didn't I mention that? The book also mentioned that Destiny is always and will always be loyal to the archangels, she is theirs to command."

Damon throws his hands in the air in exasperation – "And you didn't tell me this, why?"

I tilt my head – "I honestly didn't really care."

"What the hell, Stefan?" He yells, "Because of you we're all going to die!"

"No we're not." I say. "How stupid do you think I am?" I ask and with that I reach out to my jacket pocket and pull out a small bottle of red liquid.

"Is that..." Damon takes a step closer, his eyes glued to the object in my hands.

"Yep. That's Esther's blood."

"How...?" he doesn't finish his question.

"I swapped it before I got back here. The vial I gave to Destiny was filled with my blood. She didn't suspect a thing."

Damon looks up to me and smiles – "Brother, I could hug you right now."

"Don't." I grimace.

"I won't." He says and smiles, which I can't help but to return.

* * *

**Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think! :)  
**

**Until next time! (:**


	24. You've lost too much love

**The season ending was horrible. A moment of silence for Stefan and Elena. :(**

* * *

**Elena**

_**A week later.**_

"Elena, wake up!" An urgent voice enters my restless dreams. I roll over to my left side and groan.

"Leave me alone." I mumble into the pillow.

A hand grabs me and starts to shake me.

"What the hell?" I turn around and open my eyes, irritated, but then I see those green eyes peering into mine and all my anger vanishes.

"Stefan." I breathe.

"Good. You're awake. Let's go." He nods his head towards the door.

He is almost out of the room when I finally manage to get over my initial surprise and ask – "Go? Where?"

Stefan smirks in that annoying way – "We have an archangel to kill." But instead of leaving he leans against the wall, examining my reaction. It seems to amuse him.

I blink a few times, unable to register the words.

"I'm sorry, what?"

Stefan's smile gets a bit wider – "You heard me. Game on." He wiggles his eyebrows.

"Today?"

"Why?" I suddenly am really afraid, although I've been expecting this moment for a while now.

"Because we have something that may give us the upper hand." Stefan seems really proud of himself.

"And what is that?" I ask, wondering how long have Stefan and Damon been keeping this from me.

"Get up and you'll see." Stefan again prepares to exit the room, but I stop him yet again.

"Stefan?"

I can hear him inhaling deeply, but he turns around and faces me. I wait for him to say something, but all he does is staring at me. I realize he is waiting for me to speak up. I quickly gather my thoughts and carefully select my words before I open my mouth, this is something I have wanted to ask for some time now, but I didn't have any courage to do so. I guess it's now or never.

"Stefan, I..." the words get stuck in my throat. I pull the covers closer to my body as if they could protect me. "I just wanted to know..." Another pause, fortunately he still hasn't moved. "Did you really not feel it?"

"Feel what?" he asks, his voice cold but something in his expression changes.

"When we touch..." I whisper.

"No." The answer comes way too fast and way too harshly.

"You're lying." I state. I am intending to get this out of him.

"I'm not." Stefan snaps.

"I don't believe you. I can always tell when you're lying, Stefan." I get up from the bed and walk over to him, ignoring the fact that I am only wearing a sheer tank top and panties. It seems to me that he wants to take a step back but he meets the wall instead so now Stefan is basically pinned between me and the wall, although I am sure that I am not an obstacle for him. My heart skips a beat at the thought that he is still here, willingly and that he hasn't run from me yet. I want to know how far I can push him.

I grab his hand between my hands, Stefan instantly flinches, but he doesn't pull back.

I look into his eyes which are still too empty, too cold, but I convince myself that this emptiness is not going to last.

"You do feel it." I whisper in amazement, partly because Stefan's demeanour has changed so much from when I first saw him after he fell, and where he is right now.

"Yes. Fine, I feel it. Are you happy now?"

I smile at his response – "Yes. I am, actually."

I don't let go of his hand and neither does Stefan. I wonder why he is suddenly so tame, if you could say that. I had expected him to bolt the second he got the chance, yet he is still here.

"Why does it matter to you so much that I can feel this, this electricity or whatever it is?" Stefan suddenly asks, but his voice is so much gentler, quieter. It's almost as if the old Stefan is here with me.

My eyes fall to our hands, mine so small compared to his. "It means that you're still here." I whisper, "It gives me hope that one day the real you will be back."

I can feel Stefan's eyes on my face, but I am too scared to meet them.

"What if he will never return?" Stefan asks, barely audible.

"He will." My voice is strangled, my eyes still on our hands.

"How do you know that?"

I reluctantly raise my eyes and when I see his face I almost start to cry – Stefan's expression is so sad, hopeless even. I finally feel that I have managed to get through at least one of the walls he has built around him and no matter how fast he will build it up again at least I know that I am able to climb them – with time and patience.

"I just know." I respond softly. "And whether it takes years for you to come back, I'll always be waiting." I say, meaning every single word.

"It could take a hundred years."

I squeeze my eyes shut, fighting the emotions that are threatening to burst out of me. Of course I have considered that I might not get Stefan back, not in my lifetime.

"Then I'll die, knowing that you will be okay. That's enough for me."

Stefan pulls his hand away – "You'll be living a very sad life then."

I hear footsteps and a door closing.

When I open my eyes I'm alone again.

* * *

When I finally manage to pull myself together and leave my room I am only able to find Damon who is sitting in the kitchen, having his usual breakfast – a glass of bourbon.

"Where's Stefan?" I ask, my eyes wandering over the room, waiting for him to pop out.

"I don't know. He stormed out after he had awoken you."

"Oh." I have no idea what to say. I make my way over the kitchen counter to find something to eat, but there's basically nothing left.

"There's nothing to eat." Damon states the obvious. "But we'll be out of this wretched house today, so I don't think there's any need to worry."

I sit down at the table and pour myself a glass from Damon's bottle. He sends me dirty look like I've just stolen from him, but he doesn't object.

"Stefan was serious then? About going against Klaus today?" I take a tentative sip and grimace when the liquid burns its way down my throat.

"Yep. Judgement day is here." Damon jokes.

"Care to fill me in how we are supposed to do that? I have a feeling that you guys have kept me in the dark for a while now." I wish I could be angry at them for keeping secrets from me, but the truth is that I am too tired for that, so for now I just want answers.

"Not before you tell me what you said to Stefan." Damon crosses his hands and eyes me suspiciously.

"When?" I'm confused.

"Earlier, before he ran out of the house like it's on fire. I want to know what you told him to make him so upset."

I go over our little conversation in my head – "I reminded him of something." I say.

Damon frowns, like he doesn't get what I am saying.

"I got through to him." I allow myself to smile.

"Really?" Damon drawls. "I'm impressed."

"Why?" I ask, genuinely curious.

"Because I didn't think it would be possible since Stefan is so adamant on being a complete douche." Damon grins. "But you seem to do something for him, you're able to see through him in ways I can't."

"Do you think that is why he ran away?" I ask, "Because he's scared of me?"

"Probably. Stefan doesn't want to face his feelings. It takes a long time for a fallen angel to find themselves again; it took _me _a very long time to do that, but you, Elena, sped things up for Stefan."

"Maybe if Katherine had been there..." I let the sentence hang in the air.

"Yeah... maybe..." Damon says. The air in the kitchen has suddenly become so thick, so I decide to change the subject.

"Your turn." I say, ready to hear of their plan.

"My turn?" Damon asks.

"You said you'd tell me about how we're going to defeat Klaus."

"Do tell." An icy voice comes from the direction of the kitchen door, raising goose bumps on my arms. "I would really like to know how you are going to beat me."

Both Damon and I simultaneously jump up from our chairs and face the intruder.

"Klaus. What an unpleasant surprise." Damon quips and steps in front of me, shielding me.

Klaus' lips curve into an evil smile –"Now that is now way to treat a guest."

"As I recall, I didn't exactly invite you here." Damon responds quickly. He seems confident enough, but I detect a hint of nervousness in his voice.

I am still behind Damon, my whole body paralyzed with fear, all I can do is to stare that monster of a man. Pictures of the last time I met Klaus flash before my eyes, how he threatened us, how he killed Jeremy and slowly that fear starts to turn into rage. I suddenly see red and all I want to do is to jump forward and rip his head off. I already start to shift anxiously towards him, but Damon senses that and stops me before I manage to do some serious harm to myself.

Klaus ignores Damon's jibe and focuses his attention on me – "Ah, the lovely Elena. Too bad our last meeting was cut so short."

"Go to hell." I hiss behind Damon, seething with rage.

"What do you want, Klaus?" Damon interrupts, although the answer to this question is painfully obvious.

Klaus reaches his hand to the inside of his jacket and pulls out a shiny blade; he runs his finger along the edge of it, admiring it like it is his most precious object. Without raising his eyes from the blade – "I think you already know the answer, Damon." Klaus pulls his eyes away from the weapon and glares at Damon. "I will walk over your cold corpses before the sun sets."

Klaus' full attention is now on me and Damon. I suddenly see a movement behind the archangel and when I recognize him, I almost say his name out loud, but I manage to stop myself before it's too late.

I see that Damon has noticed him too and I realize that the only way we can survive this is to give Stefan some time, I need to distract Klaus.

"Klaus," I say, trying to maintain eye contact with him, to keep him occupied so he wouldn't notice Stefan lurking behind him. "You know you're going to lose, don't you?"

I earn an angry glare from Damon, but Klaus only laughs.

"Oh, darling, I _never _lose. I am always one step ahead of you." He says and takes a step towards us, but before he manages to get any closer, Stefan launches himself on Klaus.

"Run!" Stefan roars, but my legs are glued to the ground, they feel so heavy and I just can't tear my eyes off Stefan and Klaus' struggling bodies. Damon is off in a flash, and I feel hopelessness come over me. Why would he leave us like that?

"Stefan, no!" I scream when Klaus pushes him against the wall, strangling him. "Let him go, please, I am begging you!" I plead when I hear Stefan grunt in pain.

"There's no use in begging, Elena." Klaus snaps. "You're all dead, sooner or later, but I may just have a little fun beforehand."

Tears are streaming from my eyes, blinding me, but I can see how Klaus raises the blade to strike the death-blow to Stefan.

"No!" I cry and jump onto Klaus, knocking the weapon out of his hands. It slides further away with a clang. I hear Stefan coughing, so that means that he is freed from Klaus' hold, but when I start to search for him, Klaus hits me so hard that I fly into the table, hitting my head, hard. I feel something warm and sticky starting to flow from my head and that's when I realize that we're going to lose this fight.

* * *

**Stefan**

Well, this was unexpected. Damon and I definitely didn't consider the fact that Klaus will show up here first. The plan was all along for us to lure out Klaus, take him down together and shove the blood down his throat and then getting the blade from him so that Elena could stab him.

Fuck.

Now Elena's head is cut open and bleeding heavily and Klaus is circling Elena like she's his prey. And where the fuck is Damon? He has the stupid bottle of Esther's blood and now he is just gone? Great, this is definitely not the day I imagined I'd die.

"Stupid move, Elena, stupid." Klaus says, his eyes roaming over her. He stalks over to Elena, and deals another blow to her. Elena whimpers in pain and all I can do is watch. I see the blood flowing to her forehead and neck and I can see how she has trouble breathing and I suddenly have the biggest urge to protect her, I can't stand seeing Elena like this. I won't let Klaus hurt her again.

"Klaus," I croak, my throat is still sore from his chokehold. "Leave her alone."

Klaus spins around and look at me with disgust in his eyes. "Even when you're fallen you seem to have a need to protect her, interesting. I didn't expect that." He muses and walks past me, collecting the blade from the ground. "I wonder which one of you I should kill first - you or Elena? Who would hurt the most from seeing their loved one die?" Klaus' eyes wander between me and Elena who is clutching her wound, her hands and face covered in blood. She looks up to me and looks at me with such desperation. "I'm sorry." I mouth to her and attack Klaus yet again.

I push Klaus against the wall, but the upper hand I got for a second changes in an instant as Klaus throws me over kitchen so I land right in the middle of the table, destroying it in the process. I feel the air escaping my lungs and a sharp pain in my left arm. Elena is right next to me, her breathing shallow. "Stefan?" she squeaks, the pain audible in her voice.

"'Lena," I groan, trying to prop myself up, "I'm okay."

"No you're not." She cries, taking my hand into hers, that's when I notice that my left arm is sticking out in an odd angle, I try to move it but the pain is unbearable.

"Isn't this a sweet moment?" Klaus sneers, twirling the blade in his hands. "Let me end the pain for you." He says and starts slowly walking over to us. I give Elena one last glance – "You're going to be fine, Elena." I smile tentatively.

"Please." She only says, squeezing my hand and the electricity between us intensifies and this time I am not afraid of it, I welcome it.

From the corner of my eye I notice Damon standing behind Klaus. He gives me a slight nod, and shows me that he has the vial with blood in his possession.

Klaus is almost upon us. I feel my body tensing. I gather what strength I have left and push Elena away from me, making way for Damon to pick her up.

"Damon, now!" I holler and within a flash my brother grabs Elena and carries her away. Klaus roars in anger and kicks me into the ribs with his foot, over and over again until I wish he would just kill me.

"You think that she'll survive?" He yells. "Think again, Stefan! I'll kill every single person you ever have cared for, starting with her!" Klaus delivers another blow to my stomach.

"Stefan!" Damon shouts running back to the kitchen. "I can't get away from here, it's like some kind of a wall is surrounding the house!"

Klaus lets out a laugh – "You really were that dumb to think that I'll just give you a chance to escape? I came here to finish all three of you once and for all." Klaus looms over me, smirking. He raises the blade to deliver the final blow and I close my eyes, anticipating it. At least the pain will stop, I think to myself.

"Not so fast." Damon growls and smashes a chair against Klaus' head, breaking it into a thousand pieces.

Klaus' attention now diverts to Damon, whom he hits in the face. Damon falls on his knees, spitting blood, but to my surprise he laughs, bitterly.

"Oh, Klausy, you really are reaching here." He teases him and I want to smack Damon in the face for saying that, do we really need to make Klaus even angrier?

Klaus strikes Damon again. I try to move myself so I could at least help Damon out in any kind of way, but every move I make sends a jolt of pain through my body. I grunt and grit my teeth together and with great effort I finally manage to stand up on my feet. My left arm is on fire and now I finally see that the bone in it is probably completely shattered. I limp closer to Klaus who is still beating my brother.

I suddenly know what I have to do. This is the only way.

"Stop." I pant and Klaus instantly spins around. "Just stop already." I close my eyes and exhale through the pain.

"Stefan, what are you doing?" Damon groans from behind Klaus.

"We can't win, don't you see that?" I tell Damon. "So, kill me, Klaus. Kill me and then you'll know that the prophecy can never come true."

Klaus shrugs his shoulders – "As you wish."

Everything is in slow motion - I see the blade whooshing through the air before it stops deep in my stomach. Klaus pulls the weapon out of me and I take a staggering step back, holding onto the wound; everything is hazy before my eyes, my conscious is starting to slip away and before I take my last breath I see Elena's agonized face at the doorstep and everything I once felt for her comes rushing back in.

"Elena..." I whisper, falling on my knees, my eyes never leaving her face. _"I love you..." _I manage to say before darkness swallows me whole.

* * *

**Don't kill me please, this is not the end for Stelena! Although I've never said that this story will have a happy ending...**


	25. You Can't Live Like This

**Hi! I am so sorry for keeping this so long, but I was kind of lost on how to deal with this chapter and in the end, I am not happy with it at all. It's kinda short too, but I didn't want to keep this update from you any longer, considering how I ended the previous chapter.(It was mean, I know lol) Hopefully the next update will come faster.**

**I also have to say that this story is slowly but surely coming to an end, I'm thinking that there are only 2-4 chapters left. We'll see. :)**

* * *

**Elena**

"As you wish." Klaus utters and plunges the blade deep into Stefan's stomach.

Not a single sound escapes my lips as I watch the man I love fall lifelessly on the floor. I want to scream, to run, to die, but all I can do is just stare, helplessly. It is the worst feeling, knowing that you're incapable of doing anything, there's nothing I can possibly do to make this situation disappear.

"Elena," Stefan's voice is barely audible but nevertheless I can make out what he is saying. He falls on his knees, his eyes never leaving my face. Tears that are falling from my eyes are clouding my vision but I can see that something in him changed. His eyes are not that empty anymore, there's a light in them which has been missing for a while now.

"I love you..." he says, taking one last breath before closing his eyes forever with a slight smile on his lips like he remembered something very important.

I want to scream, run to him, but my feet won't listen to me.

My Stefan was back, just for a second. And then he was ripped away from me, so ruthlessly.

"No," I let out a strangled sob. I have forgotten all about my own injuries, the physical pain I felt before has now been replaced by emotional pain of which I have never felt before.

I take a staggering step forward; I almost stumble over a piece of furniture which has been destroyed. I take another step, then another until I am finally close enough. I kneel next to him and grab his hand.

My heart skips a beat; I can't feel it anymore, the electricity between us.

"Stefan, please." I whisper, holding onto him for dear life. "Don't leave me, please, Stefan." I beg, although I know this is fruitless.

I look around me; I meet Damon's pained face, I have never seen him look so broken.

Then I see Klaus, admiring his handiwork smugly. He sees me looking at him and smirks.

"Well, now, sweetheart." He coos. "I think it's time we get done with this whole ordeal." He wipes the blade which is dripping with Stefan's blood on his jacket sleeve.

"Did you really think that I would let you two live?" He asks. "I'm not that merciful."

Klaus starts walking slowly towards me, I close my eyes knowing what's coming next. Maybe this will be better; at least I won't be alone anymore.

My eyes snap open when I suddenly hear a commotion – Damon has tackled Klaus again. The next minute passes by in a blur.

"Elena!" Damon roars, "Catch!" he throws a small object at me, which I am barely able to catch.

"You really think you can beat me?" Klaus bellows, slamming Damon against the wall. "When are you going to learn – you can _never _defeat me!" Damon's head meets the wall again.

Damon grunts in pain but I can see the determination in his eyes – he catches Klaus unaware, kicking his legs from under him so they both fall to the floor, with Damon having the upper hand.

"Elena, shove that thing down his throat, quickly!" Damon yells, struggling to maintain the power over Klaus.

"Why?" I cry out, examining the small bottle.

"No time for that, do it!" Damon growls, "I can't hold him much longer."

I crawl over to the two men and as soon as Klaus is within my reach he starts laughing maniacally.

"There's no use in that, dear." He tries to shove Damon away but to no avail. I have no idea how Damon is managing to hold the archangel down. Some say that pain is the biggest motivator; maybe this is the reason right now.

"We'll see." Damon says through gritted teeth, "Elena, now!" He commands.

I look over my shoulder and see Stefan lying there and I am overcome by a new wave of anger and grief. I unscrew the bottle and pour the contents down Klaus' throat.

The archangel's eyes bulge as the liquid makes its way down, it's almost as if he is in pain. Damon releases his hold on him but Klaus doesn't move, it's like his whole body is paralyzed.

"What was that?" I whisper, my voice trembling, because I know what's coming next.

"There's no time for explanations, where's the fucking blade?" Damon searches frantically the floor.

"I think he dropped it when you knocked him down." I say, my eyes wandering over the destruction and then stopping on Klaus who is completely immobile. I feel both fear and fury when I look at the man who has destroyed my life.

"Here." Damon offers me the weapon which I take with shaky hands. It's heavier than I thought.

I look between the blade and Klaus, unsure.

"Elena, you have to do it now, it's our only choice." Damon's voice is urgent.

"I...I..." I stutter. Knowing what I have to do and act out on it are two different things.

"It has to be you, Elena. I can't do it."

"What if Rebekah was wrong?" I squeak. "What if she said that it had to be me, because she knew that it couldn't be me? What if she tricked us?"

"We don't know that, Elena. Please. Do it." He pleads.

"I don't think I can, I'm not a killer, Damon." Tears are burning the back of my eyes and I am barely holding onto the weapon.

"Think about Jeremy, Elena, what Klaus did to him. What he did to Stefan." Damon puts a hand on my shoulder. I look up to see his bloodied, pained face. Then my eyes catch Stefan lying there. Not breathing, never smiling again.

I inhale sharply and raise the blade. I give Damon one last glance for reassurance. He nods his head and with that I plunge the weapon deep into Klaus' heart. His back arches and with one last breath drop to the floor again. I let go of the blade, and push myself away from the body.

Klaus is dead. He is finally dead.

I feel like a huge burden has been lifted off my shoulders, like I can breathe again.

My lips curve into a small smile as I can't tear my eyes off Klaus' body, but then the waterworks begin. I can't stop the flow of tears – tears for everything I have lost because of this man – my brother, my whole life, my Stefan. The grief starts to overwhelm me and I just can't control it anymore. I am utterly alone, I have nothing and no one left. I bury my head into my hands and cry uncontrollably.

"Elena…" Damon whispers behind me.

"Just, don't." I beg, wiping the tears from my cheeks but new ones are already replacing the old ones. I look up to Stefan's brother, his face is so swollen and bruised but his eyes are as clear as water. Then my eyes stop on Stefan again. Damon follows my gaze and grimaces when his eyes fall on Stefan.

"I failed him…" Damon murmurs. "I promised myself I'd save him and I failed." He grimaces. I open my mouth to say something to him, anything that could make him feel better, make me feel better but he walks away his head lowered before I manage to utter a single word.

The only thing I can hear is my own strangled breathing. I scoot closer to Stefan's body and grab his hand again, knowing that I won't feel anything but the mere contact with him gives me a little solace.

"We won." I tell him. "After everything we went through, we won." I close my eyes, taking a few deep breaths.

I don't know how much time passes as I sit there on the floor with him. I can't think coherently, I can't function. All I can picture is Stefan and how Klaus killed him.

"_I love you…" _Stefan's last words echo in my head.

"I love you, too, Stefan." I sob. "I love you so much and you never got to hear it. I am so sorry. I wish I had told you sooner, I wish I had told you…

"You were my everything, Stefan. You were all I had left and now you're gone too, and I can't live like this - without my brother, without you. I can't do this." I confess in despair.

I look at Stefan's face and he seems so peaceful, like he finally found what he was looking for, like he welcomed death as an old friend.

Death. Such a short word carrying so much meaning behind it.

Suddenly it dawns on me. I quickly scramble on my feet and run at the direction Damon went. I discover him sitting by the front door with a bottle of whisky in his hands. I am not surprised; it's his way of dealing.

"Damon, you were an angel of death, right?" I get right at the point.

"Yeah, what of it?" he takes a big gulp from the bottle.

"When someone dies, isn't there a way to bring that person back?"

"Angels of death can't do that." Damon says. "Only…." He stops in the middle of the sentence and abruptly jumps on his feet.

"What? Damon, tell me!" I cry out, stepping in front of him.

Damon grabs me by my shoulders and looks straight into my eyes. "Only archangels can do that." He says and steps outside.

"Rebekah!" He bellows. "I know you can hear me! Klaus is dead, we did our part, and you know this house, so get your ass right here right now!" Damon is looking up to the sky, pacing back and forth.

"Rebekah?" I say, "You don't know if she's even alive."

"Oh, I don't doubt that she has gone through some terrible torture, but I am 99% sure that she's still alive. REBEKAH!" he bellows.

I can feel it, the shift in the air, the slight flickering is almost detectable.

"Damon." A woman's voice with a familiar accent rings behind me. I turn around and I am greeted by Rebekah's strained face.

"Glad to see you're alive." Damon says sarcastically.

"Glad to see that your manners haven't improved." Rebekah retorts. "Where's Klaus?"

"In the house, with a blade through his heart." Damon says.

"Good." Rebekah states. "I figured that he was dead as soon as I was released from the prison he had been holding me." She grimaces at the memory. "But it's good to hear it myself. Now, why did you call me, I am sure that you're able to dispose of the body yourself."

"Stefan." I say my voice a bit more confident. "Klaus killed him."

Rebekah's face drops visibly at that – "I'm sorry."

"Save him." Damon walks over to Rebekah, standing so close to her that any other person would have flinched away by the proximity, but not Rebekah.

"I can't. The prophecy said that one will die and even if I could I can't bring back a life that has already been taken."

"Replace it then." Damon says, "Replace his life."

Rebekah narrows her eyes a bit. "You're willing to do that for him?"

"Yes."

I am confused, scared even. – "Damon, tell me." I plead.

He turns around to face me – "She can't bring Stefan's life back just that, but she can replace it. With mine."

My eyes grow huge at his words – "No, Damon."

"Yes, Elena." He snaps. "It's the only way."

"Why?" I have to know.

"He's my brother, I'd do anything for him." Sadness flashes in his eyes. "Besides, he has someone to live for. I already got my revenge."

"Damon…I…" I stutter but he raises his hand indicating for me to stop.

"You don't have to say anything, Elena. This is my choice. Let's go." He starts to walk back into the house with Rebekah and I close on his heels.

When we arrive at the scene of destruction I see how Rebekah sends a look of disgusts towards Klaus' body and without another glance she steps right next to Stefan's lifeless form.

"Are you sure about this, Damon?" Rebekah asks, eyeing him.

"Yes." he nods his head, his eyes never leaving Stefan.

"Take his hand then." Rebekah indicates. Damon falls on his knees and takes Stefan's hand into his. I watch everything from a distance, afraid for Damon, afraid for Stefan. I am thankful for Damon for doing this, but I would never ask him to do this.

"Will it hurt?" Damon asks silently.

"I don't know." Rebekah says honestly while kneeling across Damon and grabbing Stefan's other hand.

"Okay." Damon accepts her answer. "But before we do this, tell me please, will I see Katherine again?"

"I'll make sure that you and Katherine shall be reunited." Rebekah promises.

"Thank you." Damon smiles a small but genuine smile.

"Are you ready?" Rebekah asks.

Damon nods – "Yes."

Rebekah lowers her head and starts to mutter something under her breath, I can't make out the words but I am guessing they're in Enochian. Both Damon and Rebekah lower their heads and the whole ritual lasts about ten minutes, then suddenly everything is eerily quiet. I don't even dare to breathe. My eyes wander between Damon, Stefan and Rebekah. Damon and Rebekah are still kneeling and they both are so still that they could actually be mistaken for statues.

Then Rebekah's eyes snap open and she utters a single word and Damon falls on the floor. I cover my mouth with my hands to keep myself from crying out.

"It's done." Rebekah says, slowly standing up.

I run over to Stefan – "Stefan? Can you hear me?" I get no response.

I look up to Rebekah and she reads the concern from my eyes – "Give it some time." She says and takes a few steps back.

"Stefan?" I whisper. "Stefan, I love you, please, please come back to me." I beg, hoping that he can hear me. I put a hand on his cheek and I almost start crying again, from joy because the electricity is back, it's weak, but still present.

I don't know if my mind is playing tricks on me, but I can swear that I see Stefan's chest starting to move a little, like his lungs are struggling to get air in them. I take his hand and give it a gentle squeeze and just then his eyes fly open and he is gasping for air.

"Stefan, shh, breathe." I hover over him, trying to calm him down. His eyes are wildly wandering around and they're full of fear. "It's okay." I say to him, trying to keep my voice as soothing as possible, although from inside I am burning with joy.

"Elena?" He asks, his green eyes meeting my brown ones. Stefan's real eyes, not those empty shells. Stefan pushes himself into a sitting position.

"Wh-wh-what happened?" He sputters, still gasping for air.

"You died then I brought you back." Rebekah answers instead and his eyes quickly lock on the blonde woman.

"Died?" his voice is full of confusion.

"Klaus." I swallow hard.

He blinks a few times in confusion. Then his eyes fall on Damon.

"Damon?" he gives him a slight shake. "Damon?" He asks again.

"What happened?" he starts to panic.

"Stefan, it was the only way…" I say timidly, putting my hand on his shoulder.

"I remember Klaus stabbing me…" he says more to himself than to me and Rebekah. "Darkness came… I am supposed to be dead…" he mutters.

"Stefan…"

He faces me. "Tell me everything."


	26. You Are My Heaven

**Hey guys, believe it or not, this is the final chapter.**

* * *

**Stefan**

Elena's looking at me like I am about to shatter into a million pieces. She opens her mouth to speak but not a single sound comes out, her big brown eyes are filled with worry and even despair. I can see the wheels in her head turning, considering what she should tell me and what she should keep to herself.

"Elena, please…" I plead with my eyes, with my voice, with my whole body. I need to know what happened. I look at my brother's body and I feel like I've been punched in the gut. I remember those times wishing that Damon would just disappear from my life, that I'd rather have him dead than causing problems, but all those times were a big fat lie. I would have done anything for him, all he had to do is ask.

I look at Elena again who is eyeing me with great concern. I hold out my hand for her and she willingly puts her small hand in mine. I savour the moment, thinking of how lucky I truly am to have someone like her in my life. There are a few unsaid words being exchanged between us, a time in which only our eyes speak to each other - hers so sad, bottomless, but still alive. I give her a tentative nod, encouraging her to talk.

Elena closes her eyes for a second, inhaling deeply –"What do you remember, Stefan?" her voice is raspy like she's been crying for a long time now.

I struggle to bring back the memories that I know exist in the back of my brain, but it seems like there's something that tries to block them, trying to keep them from having a full impact on me.

"I…I…don't know." I say, squeezing my eyes shut. It's like I know everything that happened, but it's impossible for me to put those events into words.

"I remember falling." I say, pictures of that day flash before my eyes. I suddenly feel the pain, the sorrow, and the emotions that came with the fall. I remember how it felt to be an empty shell – seeing everything and wanting to feel everything but not being able to. I remember Elena's face when she realized what had happened to me, I remember the pain behind her eyes, how she begged me to feel and how I responded.

I pull my hand abruptly away from her.

"Stefan?" she squeaks; her eyes wide and scared.

"Elena…" I gasp, memories flooding my head. I try to make some space between us. Why is she even here? She should be running far away from me by now.

"Stefan, it's okay." She tries to calm me down.

I let out a dry chuckle; she's trying to soothe me? I should be the one trying to calm her down, not the other way around.

"How can you even look at me?" I ask, "After what I said to you, how I acted around you?"

"That wasn't you Stefan." She argues, the fire starting to blaze a little hotter in her eyes.

"But that's not true!" I nearly scream, frustrated, especially with myself. "Every word I said back then, I meant it." I say, remembering the cruel words and how I hadn't cared how those words affected Elena.

Elena looks a bit taken aback, but she recollects her quickly. "I refuse to believe that."

I bury my head in my hands – "I'm so sorry." I mumble, unable to look at her anymore.

Elena put her warm hands over mine and pries them off my face. I keep my head lowered but she puts a finger under my jaw and lifts my head up gently. "Hey, look at me." She whispers. I raise my eyes hesitantly and face her.

It's like I am looking at her for the first time and so is she. Elena's whole face is so serene, so pure and so beautiful.

"Don't," she breathes, when I try to pull away, "Look at me." she commands and I obey. It is kind of impossible to tear yourself away from those eyes, it's like they have imprisoned me and I am carrying a life sentence. "We'll cross that bridge someday, Stefan, I promise, but right now I don't want you to beat yourself up about it. Do you understand?" she asks.

I nod, biting my tongue to keep me from saying something back.

"I'm just so glad to have you back." She whispers and presses her lips against mine, just for a tiny fraction of a second but that's enough to leave my head spinning and insides screaming for more.

"Thank you." I say solemnly when her lips leave mine. I grab her hands from my face and hold them firmly in my lap, afraid that if I let go, she'll run. I welcome the familiar feeling I get every time I touch her, this electricity or so she likes to call it. I'd like to think that it's our souls entwining, becoming one, but maybe that thought is just too stupid.

"You're welcome." Elena says silently, smiling a little.

"Well, this has been sickly sweet." An annoyed voice reaches my ears and I realize that Rebekah has been standing here all the time watching me and Elena.

I turn to look at her expecting to see her angry or plain bored but instead her face is surprisingly soft, a little sad even.

"I remember Klaus stabbing me and then there's nothing." I say. I glance between Rebekah and Elena, whose brow is in a frown. "I need to know what happened." I say, swallowing down the lump in my throat when my eyes stop on Damon again.

"Klaus is dead." Elena begins her voice slightly shaky. I give her hands a squeeze, hoping to reassure her. "Damon was able to hold him down for a minute so I was able to shove that liquid down that throat. I don't know what was in that bottle but after that Klaus was unable to move…" Elena pauses, closing her eyes, "I killed him, Stefan. I'm a murderer."

"Shh, Elena." I can sense her distress, desperation. I can't imagine what it took her to do such an act. I wrap my arms around her shoulders, encasing her in a hug while tears fall from her eyes. "You're not a murderer," I tell her.

"Stefan's right, Elena." Rebekah interjects, "This was for the greater good."

I can feel Elena relax a bit in my arms but she doesn't respond to Rebekah. I look up to the blonde woman who is eyeing us and mouth a silent thank you to her.

Some time passes before Elena finally stirs and untangles herself from me. "I'm sorry." She mutters, wiping the tears from her face.

"Don't be." I smile ruefully, wishing that she wouldn't have to feel the pain.

"Rebekah," I look at the archangel who has been standing here the whole time, for god knows why, "Would you tell me the rest of the story?"

Rebekah nods.

"Damon summoned me." She says. "A bit drunk, if I may say so. I suspect it had something to do with you being dead, Stefan."

I grimace, trying to recall how it felt to be dead, but I come up with nothing.

"I can't bring back the dead," Rebekah continues, "But I can trade one life for another."

"Damon's life for mine." I say, my voice cracking. I look at my brother's body and at that moment I wish I could trade places with him.

"This was Damon's redemption, Stefan." Elena suddenly says; she must have sensed what I had thought. "He wanted this, he asked for Rebekah to save you, no matter the cost." I lower my head, letting the sadness wash over me. I never thought that my brother would do something like that for me and although I am grateful, I would have never allowed Damon to do that.

"He is in a better place now, your brother." Rebekah says. "He's with Katherine now." My head snaps up when I hear Katherine's name.

"Katherine?" I ask.

"Yes." Rebekah nods, "Damon asked for her before I gave his life to you and I figured that after defeating Klaus he at least deserved a bit of happiness."

"Thank you for that, I mean it." I say truthfully, even though the hole in my chest that weeps for my brother is still there I can breathe a little bit easier knowing that he finally got his happy ending.

"You're welcome, Stefan." Rebekah says.

I look at Elena who is intently studying me like I am a fascinating science project. She looks so tired, so fragile, like she's about to break down in front of my eyes.

"Are you okay, 'Lena?" I ask, stroking the back of her hand with my thumb.

Elena nods weakly and then averts her eyes on Rebekah.

"What will happen to heaven?" she asks and I can't help but ponder at the same question.

"My brothers and I will take over now." Rebekah responds. "Heaven is freed from Klaus' reign of terror and I believe that we can restore the balance that it so desperately needs."

"What about the angels, you once said that there weren't supposed to be any other angels besides archangels." I need to know.

"The angels will stay." Rebekah says. "Although there aren't going to be any new ones, I think we have enough." She flashes a small smile.

"And Destiny?" Elena asks, anger lacing the tone of her voice. I, too, feel a surge of rage coursing through my body at the mention of the woman who was the cause of my downfall.

"We'll keep her locked up." Rebekah pouts her full lips. "Believe it or not, we do need her, so there's no way to get rid of that annoying woman, but I do assure you that she will never interfere with your lives again."

"I wish I could kick her ass, give her a taste of her own medicine." Elena mumbles under her breath, fuming.

I let out a dry laugh at her words and Elena gives me a slap on my shoulder for that. "It's not funny, Stefan." But she's smiling as well.

"I should leave." Rebekah states, bringing us back to reality. "I'll take Klaus' body with me along with the blade." She frowns at the body, clearly disgusted by the thought of carrying a corpse with her.

Rebekah steps over to Klaus and picks up the weapon that's lying beside him, she examines it for a second and with a flick of her wrist it disappears from her hands.

"There," Rebekah says, "Now it can't hurt anyone, anymore."

Rebekah crouches down and puts a hand on Klaus' shoulder, but before she leaves, she throws Elena and me one last knowing glance – "You know, broken bones are easy to fix." Rebekah eyes my arm which has been completely healed, "But I can't fix broken wings." She says and with that Rebekah disappears along with Klaus.

"What did she mean by that?" Elena asks, drawing my attention on her.

"I have no idea," I shake my head, thinking over Rebekah's words. What did she mean by broken wings?

"Stefan, we should do something about this mess." Elena drops the previous subject and starts to scramble onto her feet. I stand up too, offering her my hand, to help her get up. It's then when I notice how bad she looks – there's dried blood all over her face and in her hair, although the bleeding seems to have stopped. She holds her right leg like it's painful to step on.

I feel a flash of anger course through my body at the sight of her; it makes me wish I could kill Klaus all over again.

"Let me help you, Elena." I say, letting her support most of her weight on me.

"No, it's alright, Stefan, I got this." Elena argues, letting her stubbornness rule her.

"It's not alright, look at you; you're barely able to stand!" I say, agitated and a bit afraid for her. "I can fix it." I say, my abilities should all have been returned to me by now.

"Are you sure?" Elena asks, her face betraying nothing, but I can hear it in her voice that she's in pain.

"Yes." I answer, one hundred per cent sure of myself. "Give me your hand; I'll start with the smaller cuts and bruises."

Elena reaches out her right arm, which has a long and bloody cut on it; fortunately it's not that deep. I put my palm over the wound and close my eyes, expecting the surge of power which usually comes with healing, flow through my body, instead I get nothing. I frown, concentrating harder, yet nothing happens.

I open my eyes and meet Elena's curious ones, there's contempt behind those endless brown orbs of hers.

"I can't..." I whisper, "There's something wrong with me." I look at the wound I was trying to heal, it's still the same.

"Maybe you're just too shaken," Elena says, "Give it some time."

"You don't understand, angels are never too shaken." I say, almost angrily. I shake my head in frustration - "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you." I apologize, mentally slapping myself for being so rude with her.

"It's okay, Stefan, I understand." Elena smiles a little and sighs, lowering her head, "Maybe something happened when Rebekah brought you back." She says nonchalantly, more to herself than to me.

"_I can't fix broken wings." _ Rebekah's earlier words resound in my head, beating into me like a hammer. My heart rate picks up rapidly as I start to put the puzzle pieces together.

I put my hands on Elena's shoulders and look straight into her eyes – "Can you stay here for a moment, please?"

She blinks a few times and frowns but doesn't say a word and only nods. I hate to leave her standing like that, considering her current physical state, but this is something I need to test out.

I run outside, little into the forest and when I think I am far enough from her, I try to sense her, Elena. Usually, no matter where she was, I could always pick up on her, feel how she felt in the moment, but right now I am not able to do that. I get absolutely nothing.

And when I used to be able to transport myself into a location in a matter of seconds, this time I can't.

"There's no way…" I say to myself, looking up to the clear blue sky. "It can't be…"

I run back to the house where Elena's still waiting for me. I am actually a little out of breath when I finally stand in front of her again. Huh, that never happened before.

"So…?" Elena asks, raising an eyebrow, "Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Elena…I…I…" I stutter, searching for the right words.

"What is it Stefan?"

I grab both of her hands – "I think I am human again."

* * *

_**Two days later**_

**Elena**

The sun is shining hotly over our heads and although the weather forecast predicted rain for the whole day, there's not a single storm cloud to be seen, for which I am grateful. The slight breeze gently tousles my hair, making it stick on my face, but I really don't care. Not today.

Mystic Falls cemetery has its own kind of beauty, some would call it a place straight from a horror movie, but for me the big trees casting eerie shadows over the final resting places have always been a sign of home, weirdly enough.

I know I should hate the place for I have buried way too many people here – my parents, Jeremy, but I can't bring myself to feel a feeling that carries such weight with it. I have never been a hateful person and the only person I have hated is now gone.

The loud cawing of the crows wakes me up from my reverie and I look up to the sky, seeing nothing but blue emptiness around me. I squint my eyes at the sun, letting its warmth wash over me before lowering my head and searching for the person I know needs my support today the greatest.

I see him standing near the Salvatore family crypt. The doors of the building are wide open and before it stands a stone casket waiting for it to be carried into the crypt.

Stefan's head is lowered, his shoulders tense and hands curled up in a fist beside him. I know how he is keeping everything he feels bottled inside him and even though I have tried to break through him it just seems to be impossible. I know that he tries to be strong because of me, I see how he looks at me; afraid that I am going to fall and break like a porcelain doll. His worry for me clouds his own feelings and I wish I could make him see that he doesn't need to be the hero all the time that sometimes it's okay to be broken together, because in time we can heal each other's wounds.

I hobble over to him, resting a part of my body weight on a crutch I was given from the hospital. I was thrown many strange looks from the people working there for they hadn't seen me since Jeremy's funeral; my guess is that they thought I left Mystic Falls in my grief. Fortunately I wasn't asked many questions on how I got the injuries and even if I was asked, I shrugged it off as a car accident with no one else being involved in it.

"Stefan…" I say, putting a hand on his shoulder, he seems to relax a bit, "Are you ready?" I ask, knowing that he will never be ready. I wasn't ready to bury my brother, it didn't matter that I knew it was the right thing to do.

"Yes." He says simply, "I just need to say my goodbyes." He turns his head slightly so that he could see me. Stefan takes hold of my free hand and together we stand side-by-side in front of Damon Salvatore's casket.

"I…" Stefan begins, "I… don't know what to say." He confesses his voice slightly shaky.

"If Damon was here, what would you say to him?" I ask, hoping that it will make things easier on him.

"I'd say…" he pauses, choosing words. "I'd say I'm grateful. I'm grateful that you protected Elena when I couldn't, when I wouldn't." He closes his eyes; I can almost feel the guilt emanate from him. "I'd say that despite all of our differences you were the one who always mattered. I'd say I'm sorry for not believing in you all the time, but that is what a brother is supposed to do. You were supposed to make me question, make me question life, myself. I'd say I'm sorry for not standing by you when you needed me the most, I know that I can never erase that mistake and I just hope that one day you'll be able to forgive me."

I squeeze Stefan's hand in reassurance before he continues – "I know that we were never big on telling each other how we felt. I guess we knew it all the time, no words were needed. And I am not going to say it right now either, knowing that you'd probably slap me from being so melancholic." Stefan chuckles.

"I just hope that you found your happiness, wherever you are right now." He looks up to the sky and I follow his lead. "You'll always be my brother, the one I looked up to when I was growing up, you will always be my best friend, my guardian, my saviour, but I have to let you go, no matter how badly it hurts. So good-bye my brother, you'll be remembered."

We both look down again simultaneously and Stefan's gaze is instantly on me.

"How did I do?" He asks sadly, taking his other hand and flicking away the tears on my cheeks with his thumb.

"That was beautiful." I say, trying to suppress the overwhelming feeling of sadness in me.

Stefan's lips curve into a small smile. "Do you want to say anything before I call the workers and let them carry the casket into the crypt?"

I nod, turning my eyes away from Stefan. I think for a brief moment before I open my mouth – "Damon, you were an ass." I say and I can feel Stefan's eyes on me, I guess I startled him a bit with the first sentence.

"You were an ass, you were rude and manipulative and every time you smiled that stupid smirk I wanted to smack it off your face. But no matter how hard I tried to hate you, I never could actually do it. There were times I thought that it's just not possible for Stefan to be your brother, because you two were like the moon and the sun, so different from each other but over time when I got to know you I learned a thing or two about you. I learned that you would do anything for Stefan, and that you could never hate him even though you tried to insist on it a hundred times. I learned that there was always something good in you, but you tried so hard to hide it behind your snarky attitude and cheesy jokes and, hey, you fooled everyone at first, but there's only so much you can hide and eventually the good started to break through the walls you had built around you."

I look up to Stefan who is looking at me, his green eyes sparkling in the sunlight like two emeralds. The sadness that had been so present in his eyes for the past two days has diminished a lot and I smile widely while saying my last sentences.

"So, yeah, Damon, I may have not been particularly fond of you, but without you we never could have made it. You're the reason why we are standing here today on this beautiful day. You're the reason I can be with the man I love, and I am forever thankful for you because of that."

Stefan's eyes are wide as saucers when I say the last word.

"You love me?" he whispers, uncertainty in his eyes.

I realize that he has never heard me say it.

"I love you, Stefan." I tell him, pouring my heart and soul into every single word.

Stefan presses his lips against mine, his one hand around my waist, steadying my wobbly feet.

"Say it again." He pleads when he finally breaks off the kiss.

"I love you." I say. Stefan smiles widely and it's probably the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.

"And I love you, 'Lena." Stefan says, placing another soft kiss on my lips.

I let out a laugh of pure joy, although this day is supposed to be a sad one.

"What now?" I ask, glancing at the casket. From the corner of my eye I can see the workers approaching the crypt, ready to carry it into the building.

"Now we start to live." Stefan says. "One day at a time."

Stefan takes my hand and together we walk away, leaving our old lives behind us and ready to start a new one.

_The end_

* * *

__**So yeah, this is the end, unfortunately. I could go on with it, but then the chapters would probably be really sappy and lovey dovey and I personally think that it wouldn't fit with this story since it has been kind of gloomy since the beginning. I hope you won't be too mad at me because of this lol.**

** I really can't believe that I actually managed to finish this story, it's been one heck of a ride considering this is the first time I tried to write something and not even in my own language. And I couldn't have done it without your support, I think I would have quit this story at chapter 5 if it wasn't for you guys. You were my inspiration and you gave me the courage to continue this no matter how bad I thought it was. I am forever grateful for each and everyone who reviewed, followed and favorited this story! You rock! :)**

**I had thought of a whole different ending for this story, a bittersweet one, but I finally decided that I won't go with it because our Stelena hearts are already broken. I may post it one day, though. I don't know yet.**

**There's going to be an epilogue as well, a short one probably, but I think the story needs one, so stay tuned!**


	27. Epilogue - Clarity

_One year later…_

"You see that one over there?" he points his finger up to the sky and draws an imaginary line with it.

"The one that looks like a letter M?" she follows the same pattern with her finger like he did before.

"Yes, that one." He reaches for her hand and intertwines their fingers, resting their hands on his chest.

"I see it." She breathes dreamily, caught up in her thoughts, how her hand perfectly fits his.

"It's the Cassiopeia." He says, "She was a queen a long time ago, she was one of the most beautiful women in the world but her vanity led to her downfall."

"That's not a very happy story then."

"Not all stories have happy endings, Elena." He whispers, turning his head so he could look at her.

Still eyeing the constellation she says, "Do you think ours will have one? A happy ending, that is?"

"Yes." He says without hesitation.

Elena averts her eyes from those beautiful stars and her gaze falls first on their locked hands then on his lips and finally on his eyes. Stefan smiles in return which makes her stomach flutter and sends her heart racing. He always has that effect on her, and she thinks that there's nothing in this world that could make it disappear.

"What makes you so sure?" she asks, ignoring the thumping of her heart.

"Doesn't all fairy tales have a happy ending?" he answers her question with a question.

Elena raises her eyebrows in astonishment – "You think our story is a fairy tale?"

"I do," Stefan answers solemnly, then his lips curve into a mischievous smile, "We already have all the components – a beautiful princess." He raises their intertwined hands and kisses her knuckles. "Prince Charming." He says and Elena giggles. "The bad guy who wished nothing but misery upon us and who we so easily defeated." Stefan locks her eyes with Elena's.

Suddenly the air grows a bit colder and the playfulness from Stefan's eyes disappears.

Elena turns her head back to the stars, "I thought everyone in a fairy tale had a happy ending." Her voice is sad, "But in ours…" she doesn't end her sentence but Stefan knows exactly what she means.

"Ours is a different kind of fairy tale." Stefan's says quietly.

"How so?" Sometimes his mind goes into places Elena doesn't understand, but that is a part of him she never would change.

"We fought together, we fought for each other. We saved each other." He says and Elena finally understands what he is getting at.

"And in fairy tales, there's usually only one person doing the saving…" she finishes his thoughts.

"Exactly." He agrees, happy that she understands him so well.

They lie there in silence for a while, admiring the beauty that the night sky offers. Only the occasional hooting of an owl breaks into their serenity.

Stefan suddenly takes their intertwined hands and raises them up in the air – "Do you see that one?" He draws a pattern with their hands.

"I do." Elena sighs, going over the star pattern again, now with her leading their hands.

"That's the Andromeda." Stefan says, "She was the daughter of Cassiopeia."

"What happened to her?" Elena asks, curious to know.

"Her mother boasted that she was more beautiful than the sea-nymphs, so Poseidon sent a sea monster to destroy the city they lived in and as a sacrifice to the sea monster, Andromeda was tied to a rock."

"That's awful." Elena frowns in discontent.

"She was saved by her future husband, Perseus." He raises their hands again and draws another imaginary line. "He's over there."

"How do you know all of this?" she asks, squinting her eyes at the jumble of shining dots. For her, they all look like a one big mess.

He smiles ruefully, "I've had a lot of time on my hands."

Elena accepts his answer with ease, knowing what he meant by that.

"Do you ever miss it?" Elena asks, not knowing what came over her to even ask.

"Miss what?" He responds, although he knows what she meant by that question.

"Being an angel," she whispers, a bit afraid of his reaction.

"Sometimes, yes," Stefan answers truthfully and he can instantly feel her eyes on him, he's guessing it's not the answer she was expecting.

"But then I look at you and I am reminded of how lucky I am to have you, how lucky I am that I can spend a lifetime with you and I wouldn't trade that for anything." He adds, turning his head slightly so he could look at her expression.

Elena smiles a little, the smile reaching her beautiful chocolate eyes. She sighs in content, cherishing the moment between them.

Elena knows that they have a lot of obstacles to overcome, but she is sure that time will heal those wounds as well. Sometimes she sees him looking at her with worry in his eyes, like he's afraid that she's going to run from him and she knows that sometimes she looks at him the same way. They are both still broken to a point where no person should be, but they both know that their only medicine is each other.

Without one another they'd be lost, even the slightest breeze would sweep them off their feet and getting up from that would be nearly impossible if it weren't for the support they get from each other.

The last year has been tough on both of them. Dealing with the consequences of Jeremy's and Damon's death was hard, but in their grief they both learned a lot about themselves and each other. Stefan and Elena now both know how fragile life is and how easily it can be blown out, like a flame of a candle and they intend to live life to the fullest, even if it sometimes seems unfair to the people that they have lost, because guilt is a powerful feeling and trying to conquer it may as well be like climbing Mount Everest.

You look up, expecting to see the peak but all you can make out are clouds and fog and when you start to climb that mountain you feel like you're out of air and the only feeling is the one of despair and the want to quit. But Stefan and Elena know that all it takes is offering a helpful hand to the one who is at a lower point, encouraging each other to take that necessary extra step, because sometimes one step is the only one you need to destroy what destroys you.

And when you reach the top - breathing heavily from exertion, wanting nothing more than to lie down and never stand up again, but you can't do that because the one thing that keeps you from falling into pieces is the knowledge that you conquered something nearly impossible - you see the sun rising from the east and you try to breathe the already sparse mountain air with every breath feeling like the last, but you don't care, because you know that at that moment the only thing matters is not that you suffered through extremities, not the fact that you're so tired that you could sleep for the next week but the fact that you overcame one of the biggest obstacles of your entire life.

That is what Elena and Stefan do every single day. They thrive, blossom and conquer. And they have better days and worse days, but every single day brings something new to them. And whether it is good or bad they always know that they have each other, no matter what and that is the most important thing.

When Stefan and Elena met, they didn't know how much they would influence each other's lives. For her, it was just a strange coincidence, for him a duty, knowing what had to be done even though at that time it felt wrong, yet so right.

They broke each other down to million pieces then assembled each other back into whole again, although some of those pieces didn't fit anymore so they had to borrow bits from each other, building themselves up again. And sometimes they both wish that they didn't need those pieces of each other so badly.

"What are you thinking about?" Stefan asks, stroking the back of her hand with his thumb.

"Everything." She says simply.

"Everything?" he echoes, "That's a lot to think about."

"I know, but is that a bad thing?" her voice is soft like the flapping of a butterfly's wings.

"No, it's not." Stefan agrees.

A minute passes.

"Come with me." Stefan says and stands up, offering her his hand.

"Where?" she wonders.

"To have our happy ending."

Elena smiles and gladly takes his hand and so they both leave the night sky behind them with the past that will always be the silent passenger, haunting them until the end. They know that living in the past will get them nowhere, it will always remain, be with them, and it cannot be erased. So they choose to look into the future with clear eyes and a clear mind and with the hope that one day this fairy tale will truly have a happy ending.

* * *

**So here it is. Wow. What a journey it was. I didn't realize how attached I had grown to this story until I started to write the epilogue... it's kind of impossible to describe the feelings I have right now...**

**I wish I could give each and every one of you a big hug and a box of chocolates, because without you - and I won't get tired of repeating this - I wouldn't have made it. Seriously. Thank you so so so so so so so much!**

**We'll see what the future brings, with this story I discovered that I really enjoy writing and I already have a few ideas for a new story. We shall see. :) **

**Until next time!**


End file.
